Rise of the King
by TheGoosemaster
Summary: It has been millenia since he has walked the earth, it had been forever since his name had even been uttered. So long since he had been heard of the gods thought he was gone forever. How wrong they were. At long last he returns, Olympus shakes in fear at his return. For as the Titans rise, the true threat shall be the one they once called their King.
1. Olympus has Fallen

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Olympus Has Fallen**

A lone man sat in front of a crackling fire, his perfectly tanned skin bathing in the soft red and orange glow of the hearth before him. Hunched over, the man let the warmth bathe across his skin. His eyes the deepest shade of black possible, stars and galaxies twinkling deep in his irises, an occasional fiery comet shooting across his eyes. His hair matched the darkness of his eyes, perfect raven black hair that fell loosely to just above his eyes. A smile graced his features, radiating his perfect cheekbones and chiseled jaw. His perfect grime less white teeth shining so brightly they should have come with a warning label.

Outside the fire was an enormous room, if it could be called that. It was ten times the size of a football stadium, all that resided in the room currently were twelve giant thrones jutting out of the sleek white marble and the man in front of the flames. After a few still moments he rose and stood away from the flames.

His normal, human sized stature started to glow into a bright light before a fifteen foot tall man was there. He walked to the center of the thrones that formed a U shape, a large seat that matched his eyes like the night sky, littered with stars and glowing with galaxies. He lounged in the chair lazily and closed his eyes briefly for a moment. As if a silent prayer was coming across his mind, his eyes fluttered open a second later as eleven bright flashes of light appeared in front of him, revealing the forms of eleven giant immortals.

The Olympians as the Greeks called them. The twelve _mightiest_ gods and goddesses of the entire Greek pantheon, unmatched by the others gods and goddesses. His dark eyes flickered to each god and goddess standing before their thrones.

To his right were Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Artemis, Athena and lastly Aphrodite. On his left were, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus, Apollo and Hephaestus. Those were the Olympians, but there was an issue. While the twelve gods and goddesses being labelled as Olympians hardly mattered to most of the council, there were some that believed the title of Olympian made them more powerful and better than the rest of the pantheon and there were certain gods and goddesses that were not Olympians that were pushing to become Olympians. Notably Dionysus, Ares and Hermes. All three of these gods were children of Zeus which was interesting to the man who sat directly in the middle and very suspicious.

As if Zeus was able to fool him, he was far older and certainly much more wiser than the Lord of the Skies. He had led the armies of Olympus and stormed Mount Orthrys, when all three of his brothers fought his father simultaneously and failed. He had been the last hope to topple the King of the Titans from his throne and he had defeated the Lord of Time and his father. He wielded his fathers own scythe and cut Kronos into pieces, his siblings watched as he threw the pieces into Tartarus. He was hailed the King of the gods.

But he did not wish to be King, he did not rule over the Olympians or unjustly demand his laws to be followed. Under his guise, they voted in a completely democratic system that mirrored the city of Athens. He watched as Zeus rose from his throne, the other gods and goddesses becoming silent as he did so. His voice boomed and echoed throughout the large throne room.

"Perseus," The King would have been a fool to not have noticed the venom and hatred that was hidden in his littlest brothers voice. "As King," Again, the vile and bitterness in his tone was overwhelmingly obvious he was greatly surprised that none of the other gods or goddesses could catch Zeus' tone. "You must call a vote on the matters at hand."

Perseus merely raised his right eyebrow at his youngest sibling. Watching with silent satisfaction as a vein started to pop on Zeus' forehead. "For what exactly am I calling vote?" He asked Zeus with fake curiosity, he of course knew what Zeus wanted and was calling for. But Perseus really did not want to have to deal with this right now.

Zeus growled, the air around him beginning to crackle with electricity. He caught the whiff of the smell of ozone and he knew his brother was angry and about to bring out his massive sparkler and either threaten him or something else that would ultimately result in Zeus being humiliated.

The bright electric blue eyes of the youngest son of Kronos and Rhea exploded with lightning and he glared harshly at his eldest brother. While he knew his brother was powerful, from the domains that he had control over. Zeus believed he held a greater power and deserved to be the King of the gods, he had been the one to purge his siblings from their fathers stomach. Despite Perseus never being swallowed by his father due to being far older than the rest of them.

His voice was a dangerous hiss, "You know exactly what I am calling for." He snarled angrily.

Perseus rolled his eyes, his gaze then sweeping across the throne room and drinking in the sights of how bored the rest of the Olympians were. Artemis was twirling a silver arrow in her hand, Apollo was doing the same but with a golden arrow. The rest either were just sitting there dazed or Aphrodite who was changing her features rapidly, either trying to find the most comfortable form or the prettiest. Perseus hardly cared anyways. Hades and Poseidon were just staring at their youngest brother.

A typical council meeting, although Zeus was being far more aggressive than he had ever been before. Perseus had not seen his little brother almost hurl his master bolt at him, but it was not that much of a concern. Zeus was always riled up but he never acted on his anger for fear of the council and Perseus himself striking him down in the process.

However, little did Perseus know, this council meeting was going to be far different than the rest.

"Little brother," Perseus said through narrowed eyes. "Your request is denied."

Zeus sneered and rose from his seat, a super powerful electric bolt appearing in his grasp. Crackling with electricity and immense power, he stared at his brother with hatred, with anger. Perseus and the rest of the council just stared at Zeus and his master bolt with tired eyes. Either not surprised or not in all fearful of what was about to happen. Perseus however was staring at Zeus with anticipation and surprise, this being the first time Zeus has ever threatened him with his weapon in a council meeting.

"You're a tyrant," Zeus snarled angrily, his eyes flashing. At his words, most of the council rolled their eyes and groaned. A topic that the Lord of the skies had brought up very often and many disagreed with his words. "You control the will of the council and are a traitor to your family..." Perseus had, had enough.

"ENOUGH!" Perseus bellowed, effectively silencing his red faced little brother and drawing stunned looks from the rest of the council. None of these Olympians had ever seen Perseus so enraged and angry since his battle with the Titans on Mount Othrys. He had never lost his temper with anyone, even Zeus himself despite all of the badgering. "Do not presume," He hissed with bile. "I don't have any clue to what you are doing." The eldest Olympian rose from his throne, his body pulsing with a pitch black color. The room began to grow colder, the other Olympians shivering in their thrones and staring at Perseus with wide eyes. The golden light of Olympus beginning to fade as darkness began to suffocate the room. Zeus shivered along with the rest of the gods and his plan would fail if Perseus continued his anger. The power and aura he was emitting was powerful enough to vaporize mortals just for being in his presence.

"You wish for your children to be included on the council, many of your children so favor nearly always sides with you." He sneered pointing a finger straight at Zeus. "You plan to control the council and you call me a tyrant?" He asked with a menacing hiss.

The wide blue eyes of Zeus stared at his eldest brother in shock, along with the other ten Olympians. He hesitated for a moment, fearful of what Perseus was going to do. Especially with the power he was basically glowing in. He then launched his master bolt right at the King of the gods.

The other Olympians jaws dropped at the audacity of Zeus. Lightning crackled and thunder boomed as the bolt flew through the air and just before the master bolt reach Perseus, the darkness surrounded the bolt and the master bolt disappeared into thin air.

Zeus' jaw dropped as he watched his master bolt melt into the shadows. He sputtered and stuttered, trying to form words as he watched his symbol of power being taken from him. He glared harshly at Perseus. "Give me my bolt." He hissed.

"No." Perseus snarled.

"You're breaking the ancient laws." Zeus outraged.

Perseus rolled his eyes. "As if you don't break the laws daily." He growled before he raised his hand into a curl of shadows and pulling out his brother master bolt. Holding it in his hands lightning began to crackle around him and his black energy began to glow a slight hue of blue. He sneered at the bolt and threw it to the floor at his feet in front of his throne.

"Retrieve your bolt, _brother._ " He spat with contempt. The power in his voice shaking the ground beneath his feet dangerously as Zeus waved his hand returning the lightning rod to his hands.

"Listen here, and listen well." The King of the gods spoke in a dangerously low voice. "I am sick of your petty attempts to usurp me from this throne, from title as king. I don't want to be king, I hate it, I despise that I am called the very same that our father was called. A tyrant, I am sick of your lies Zeus and sick of your childish attempts to gain power. You go behind the back of your wife many times and are unfaithful, having many children with others and you do this to unbalance the gods and raise your own status." At this point Zeus paled slightly as Hera began to glare harshly at him, either in betrayal or anger.

But what threw Zeus for a loop and angered him to no end was the fact his brother was King of the Olympians and did not want to be their King.

"You are done asking for your children to join the council, should they be allowed to join..." He paused and waved his hands at the other Olympians, "Then the rest of the council must agree on it, I do not control the council and if you wish to vote on these trivial matters then by all means, go ahead." He waved his hands carelessly as he sat back in his throne and lounged rather lazily, he was tired of being annoyed by his little brother.

Zeus seemed shocked and surprised before he sat down in his gloating and magnificent throne, feeling the power rush through him he smirked with delight. His brother was letting his guard down, he was working in the right notion.

"I challenge you for your throne."

Perseus sat up straighter and stared at his brother in surprise, "Are you truly that foolish?" He asked in a slow tone. While yes, it was prideful and arrogant of him, he and the rest of the Olympians all knew him to be more powerful than his youngest brother, far more powerful than the lord of the skies.

Zeus just smirked in response as his master bolt appeared in his hands. Glowing with an electric blue hue.

Perseus turned to the rest of the council of the gods and called for a vote. "Who agrees to allow Zeus to challenge me as King of the Gods?" He asked, expecting most if not all of the Olympians to reject him from challenging his throne. However, he was stunned, angry, confused, hurt and gobsmacked as every single god and goddess besides Hestia and Hades raised their hands. A number of eight to two, Zeus and Perseus both having no vote as the matter pertained to them.

Zeus grinned devilishly at Perseus before rising from his throne. "Then I Zeus lord of the skies, god of justice, lightning and thunder..." Thunder boomed loudly overhead. "Challenge Perseus, god of night, earth and _time,_ " He spat rather jealously. "For his title as King of the Olympians."

Perseus sighed rather tiredly and rose from his throne. He knew that he had no other choice than to accept the challenge otherwise he would forfeit his throne as the other members of the council agreed for the battle as King of the gods.

"I accept your challenge, _little brother."_ He sneered as a midnight black blade appeared in his hands with shining gold etching, the blade radiated power and Zeus' nose crinkled nervously as Perseus' thumb rubbed the crimson red ruby that was embedded in the hilt.

Perseus jumped from his throne and shrunk into the size of a normal human about six feet tall, he looked over to see Zeus doing the same standing opposite of him with his master bolt crackling in his hands. A gleam of lust and arrogance shining brightly in the lord of the skies eyes. Something Perseus quickly noticed was the black and golden aura that surrounded Zeus in the slightest. Small enough so no others could catch, but Perseus was not the King of the Olympians for a no reason.

He was curious and now very nervous for what his brother would do. He could sense that Zeus' aura was radiating an immense power, but it felt different, very different and far more powerful than before. Uh-oh. He thought.

Zeus raised his bolt and pointed it at Perseus as the rest of the Olympians watched. "You shall fall today, oh mighty King." He mocked before a bolt of lightning descended from the heavens with such intensity and power Perseus had never seen before. He barely rolled out of the way and by the time he focused his attention back on Zeus, he was charging him with a stunning speed. His master bolt coming towards his chest, Perseus barely had enough time to react.

He deflected the blow away from him and struck towards Zeus' now opened midsection, but the lord of the skies jumped back in anticipation. Zeus jumped forward and brought down his master bolt towards Perseus' neck, but he was quick, bringing his symbol of power upwards and meeting Zeus' strike in mid air. The two clashed in a shower of sparks before clashing again in another deadlocked formation. This time Zeus grinned as he super charged his bolt with electrical signals and forced them threw his King's blade.

The god of night growled and jumped back in irritation as the shock entered his body. He smirked nervously, something was definitely up with his little little brother. He was far more powerful and quick than he was weeks ago, this did not seem all to good to the King of the gods.

Perseus looked ahead and his midnight dark eyes widened as Zeus launched his master bolt at him, he dodged but as his symbol of power passed by. It let loose thousands of powerful bolts of lightning in all directions. Several dozen absorbed into his body and Perseus cried out as electricity burned his skin and forced his numb arm to drop his blade. Now, that was something he knew his brother could not do before. He looked up as Zeus was smirking evilly at him, his normally electric blue irises were now black like his, with gold sparkling deep within them.

Zeus raised his hand and his master bolt shot back into his grasp before slicing it downwards at Perseus', who barely dodged the strike but it still sliced deeply into his cheek. Golden blood dripping profusely from the wound as Perseus shakily reached down and grabbed his blade.

Shakily, Perseus raised his blade in a defensive stance. The immortal ichor of the gods dripping down his body and his muscles tight with electrical shocks still flowing through them. He knew exactly what was happening, his little brother was being influenced by outside forces, whether by his own will nor not he was putting all of the rest of the Olympians in danger.

As Zeus looked at him chaotically, Perseus slammed his right foot into the ground. Forcing Zeus unbalanced as Olympus started to shake violently, he brought his blade down upon the staggering lord of the skies who just barely had enough time to raise his bolt and block the strike. But that was all he needed, he swept his left leg out and knocked his brothers feet out from under him. Watching as he collapsed to the ground. His next strike was so quick none of the Olympians nor Zeus was able to see it he brought his blade down with a strike so powerful, the master bolt crackled with energy before exploding outwards blasting Perseus off of his feet and sending him flying.

When the rubble cleared, Zeus stood around a decimated area of dust and marble, ichor dripped from his nose and several cuts on his body but that hardly seemed to be the ire of his eye. His symbol of power, his prideful master bolt had just been destroyed by his brother. How was this possible? He snarled in his head before meeting the jaw dropped eyes of the council.

Then he turned and faced Perseus, who was standing, blade in hand and ichor also dripping from several wounds on his body as well. Although his seemed far more severe than his, but he was without his weapon and therefore was with a serious disadvantage for the rest of this fight.

With speed not even Hermes god of speed could muster, Perseus charged Zeus and attacked, he dodged the first strike but was not quick enough to dodge the flat of the blade that caught him in the knee and nearly knocked him to the ground once more, he kept his balance until Perseus slammed his foot into his little brothers chest and knocked him on his ass.

Perseus raised his blade to his brothers neck, surprised at the power Zeus had shown but pleased that the battle was over. "Do you yield?" He asked his brother, assuming he would say yes. However before he could respond, Perseus grunted in pain as a silver arrow pierced the bicep that he held his sword aloft with. He grunted in pain and his sword clattered to the ground. His eyes were wide and he was stunned as he pulled the arrow free from his arm, stunned to see that although it was covered in golden ichor, the arrow head was silver.

"Artemis?" He asked, eyes wide with betrayal.

The silver eyed goddess opened her mouth to respond but this time from the opposite direction an arrow pierced him in the shoulder blade, he groaned in pain and before he could react Zeus jumped up and swept him off his feet. His head slammed into the ground with a painful crunch and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He moaned as his vision blurred, but he knew exactly what happened. Artemis and Apollo had both interfered in his fight with Zeus.

Out of all the Olympians, he would never have expected Artemis and Apollo to side with their father over him. He was absolutely pissed and hurt from their betrayal. He tried to rise from his knees and to his feet but a powerful blast of ice cold water slammed into his chest and knocked him to the floor, water surrounded him in a cocoon and bound his hands tightly together from moving. He snarled and glared at Poseidon as he tried to force his hands from the iron tight ropes of water. Zeus reared back and punched him in the face, a painful crunch sounded and immortal ichor dripped from Perseus' broken nose. The eldest of the gods gasped as Zeus wrenched his blade free from his hands. Zeus smacked the flat of his blade against the back of his knee knocking him to the ground. Zeus walked over to him with a vicious smile on his face and slammed his foot into his brothers face with glee, the kick powerful enough to make his vision blur.

When his vision cleared he looked up to see his youngest brother holding his very own blade and symbol of power to his throat. Pressing the point harshly into his neck enough that it drew golden ichor that dribbled down his neck.

"Do you yield?" Zeus asked smugly, his eyes flashing victoriously.

"I won the fight," He argued angrily. "Your children broke the ancient laws." He spat, he glared harshly at Artemis who seemed tense and then glared at Apollo who seemed to be clenching his fists in anger whether at him or something else he no longer cared. "Our very own brother broke the ancient laws." His eyes whirled on Poseidon who paled considerably under the furious gaze of his older brother. He gazed at the rest of the Olympians only to see them sitting idly in their thrones, none of them caring that Zeus had cheated to become King of the gods.

Only one god decided to take action.

Hades rose in anger, a pitch black staff appearing in his hands and his helm of darkness appearing on his head as he did. But before he could step forward and help his brother, three prongs poked into his neck. threatening to pierce his jugular. He gulped slightly and turned to see an enraged sea god holding his trident deep into his throat. He stared into the swirling hurricanes of Poseidon with shock. He always sided with Perseus over Zeus, why would he change that now?

"I am King of the gods now, _brother."_ Saying the word as if it were poison.

"Is the King of the gods to weak to win a battle by himself, having to resort to help from others to win your own battles." Perseus sneered. A purple vein bulged visibly on Zeus' forehead but he continued on, trying to ignore his oldest brother.

"As king of the gods," He continued arrogantly. "Sit down Hades or I will allow Poseidon to drive his trident straight through your neck." He smirked smugly before taking a few steps behind Perseus. "As for you former King of the gods, we as a council will decide exactly what to do with you." He whispered in his ear hatefully before slamming the flat of his own blade into the god of nights skull. The god collapsed forward unconscious.

When Perseus' eyes opened he was bound in celestial bronze chains binding him tightly to the marble floors of Olympus. He looked at the center of the thrones and was surprised that instead of his and Hestia' thrones, Zeus and Hera's were there and his little brother was staring down at him with a gleeful look on his face. "Your title as King of Olympus has been taken from you and given to me." He paused briefly, before smirking evilly.

"As King I call a vote, for Perseus' banishment from the Olympian council."

The eyes of the eldest child of Kronos and Rhea widened, stunned at his proclamation. He knew that his brother was power hungry and wished to be King of the gods without him being in his way but he did not know it would come to this. Zeus turned to the other Olympians, the only two that seemed surprised at his poll were Hestia and Hades. Both seemed ready to rise from their thrones but a quick look from Perseus kept both from doing so. He did not want either of them to be banished as well, for he assumed that his brother was going to get rid of all of those who would question his authority. Zeus was just like their father, he was going to be a tyrant. An exact replica of their father, the man they sacrificed so much to overthrow.

"All for?"

A pang entered Perseus' heart as every single Olympian god and goddess raised their hands, excluding both Hestia and Hades. He was stunned that all of them would betray him like this, especially after all he had done for them. They were the ones who wanted him to be King, along with the minor gods and goddesses. He did not wish for this and yet he was the one being punished for their decision to place him as King.

"All against?" Hades and Hestia raised their hands but Zeus merely shrugged. "The decision for banishment is granted," His throne which was now in Zeus' former spot vanished and disappeared. "You are no longer an Olympian brother." Zeus said as Perseus' throne dissolved into darkness, his power however did not weaken as Zeus had expected, his aura pulsed with the same power as before, he paused for a moment, irritated slightly.

"Now for the next vote, all in favor of Perseus' being banished to Tartarus for his crimes against this council?"

Perseus' eyes widened in shock at Zeus' words, he could barely believe that he was banishing him from Olympus and now he wanted to throw him into Tartarus this was absolutely preposterous and outrageous.

"Crimes?" Hades voice rang out. "What crimes?"

Zeus merely chuckled, as if the thought amused him to no end. "His crimes against the prosperity of Olympus, he is a tyrant, an exact replica of our father..."

"Enough!" He bellowed as he rose, this time the shadows morphed around the god of the underworld until he stood there in pitch black armor, his helm of darkness once again on his head and his black staff held tightly in his hands. The Olympians shivered as the temperature dropped. Despite this Poseidon rose from his throne and raised his trident to attack Hades, but the god was faster and slammed the butt of his staff against the side of the trident and knocked the prongs away before slamming the rod like a baseball bat into Poseidon's skull. The god of the sea collapsed backwards onto his throne and Hades barely had enough time to dodge half a dozen volley of silver and gold arrows. He knocked them out of the sky and went forward to attack the moon goddess but Hera rose from her throne and sent a blast of godly energy that caught him off guard and knocked him off of his feet.

Hephaestus and Apollo quickly disarmed him and bound him in chains next to Perseus.

"We shall deal with you later, traitor." Zeus spat in hatred and anger at Hades.

"Now as I was saying, all for Perseus' banishment to Tartarus?" He asked. Immediately Hera, Demeter and Zeus rose their hands, Aphrodite and Hephaestus joining seconds later. His eyes turned to his two nieces and one nephew who had not yet raised their hands. Athena, Artemis and Apollo followed soon after. Their arms shakily being raised and their eyes quite uncertain. He could see the fear and sadness in their eyes but he could not bear to see any of this council ever again.

"All opposed?" Only Hestia raised her hand, her eyes shining bright as tears dripped down her face. From what he could tell, Athena and Artemis were barely holding back tears and Apollo was as well. "Very well, the council has decided Perseus, for treason against the gods your punishment is Tartarus for all eternity."

Zeus rose from his throne and snapped his fingers and a ten foot by ten foot hole appearing a few feet before the former King of the gods. An entrance that went all the way to Tartarus itself. Zeus went to speak again, but Perseus spoke before he could.

"You have made your greatest mistake _Zeus."_ He hissed his name like a curse. "You shall pay for what you have done, Olympus shall pay." He bellowed in a voice that shook Olympus to its foundations and nearly knocked the Olympians from their thrones. "This I swear, I swear by the River Styx." Thunder boomed loudly in the distance and all of the Olympians were stunned. This was the first time that any had swore an oath to the river of the Underworld and many were confused as to what it exactly entailed.

Perseus' eyes gleamed in promise as he shakily rose despite the chains, his eyes glaring defiantly into his youngest brothers.

"You shall fall before me," He bellowed with a psychotic laugh, garnering looks of surprise from every Olympian. The normally calm and collected King of the gods seemed ready to explode. "And you shall realize that it is all your fault." He sneered.

Zeus' eyes widened in surprise at Perseus' promise. Then he smiled, one that sent chills down each and every god and goddesses backs, except for his eldest brother.

"I shall make it impossible for you to do so, you shall be erased from history. Your name, your feats and accomplishments shall be warped. You will never be remembered or thought of by anyone, immortal or mortal. Your name shall never be uttered shall never be uttered in these halls." He paused and his eyes brightened at the look of shock on Perseus' face. "You will become nothing and be forced to fade as we erase you from history. From now on, there are only six children of Kronos and Rhea."

"Enjoy Tartarus, brother." Zeus spat.

Perseus laughed psychotically, his body shaking as the chains wrapped around him jingled from his movements. With one final breathe before he fell into the pit, he uttered his last words. A promise. One that chilled the gods and goddesses in their thrones, regret seeping through their veins but it was far too late. The deed was done and they had all sealed their fates.

"Olympus will fall."

 **This is a rewrite to my first story Return of the Dead King. Much will be different and I hope the story and plot will be far better than the other. I thank you for all the support and please favorite and review.**

 **The more support I get the more I feel like writing. I truly love to write, but with my hectic schedule it has become very hard for me to do so and the only way I will continue is if I get support from the fantastic readers out there.**

 **Thank you all and I appreciate it.**


	2. Father

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Father**

 ** _Many Millenia Later_**

Perseus hacked and slashed, a blade made of seemingly pure darkness sliced and cut through a horde of monsters with ease. Each strike, each stab turning a different monster to golden dust. Sweat dripped from his forehead and his pitch black eyes were dull and weary. He growled and sliced the head of a Empousai off, her body bursting into golden dust before he turned and barely dodged a strike to his face. He sneered stepped to the side of a Dracaena' spear, the god grabbed the shaft and wrenched forward forcing the monster right into his blade. He grinned as the final monster dissolved into dust.

He sighed and wiped the sweat from his brow, a scowl was etched permanently on his face. His midnight black, galaxy filled eyes burning with passion and hate. The sword of darkness vanished from his hands, the shadows retreating into the air of the pit.

For many millenia he had been trapped in the pit of Tartarus, eons of suffering at the hands of his siblings and the rest of the Olympians. While the world had not been destroyed or as worse as the time his father ruled, he had learned from the many monsters he had come across that the era of Zeus had been much worse than his rule. These unfortunate monsters had the pleasure of dealing with an angry and bloodthirsty former Olympian.

The eldest god had many enemies, both immortal and monsters. Since being cast into the pit, he had come across quite a few of his former enemies and the last few millenia had not been kind to the former King of Olympus. This place was terrible, even for a being as powerful as himself. The Titans, the Primordial's and the monsters that lurked in the shadows all wanted him dead and while he had been fortunate enough to escape the wrath of the Primordial gods, he had come across legions of monsters and even Titans in which he was forced to destroy. Only his fists and weapons he made of shadows at his disposal.

His eyes gazed around and stared at the surroundings, he noticed a figure cloaked in the shadows at the edge of his vision. Standing and looking straight at him. Perseus narrowed his eyes and stalked his way towards the figure, his intent was to kill or destroy.

Thousands of years burning in hell could really change a man, or god. He hated the mere mention of the Olympians and he lusted for the blood of his betrayers. These monsters and others paid the price for the fact he was unable to exact his revenge as of yet. Soon he would get his chance, but he needed to escape this wretched place first.

As he neared the figure, the features of the deity became clearer. Dark raven black hair similar to his own falling to his shoulders, tan skin and a chiseled jawline. He was well muscled and he casually wore strange apparel that Perseus had never seen before. Come to think of it, Empousai had begun to wear far stranger outfits but he hardly noticed as he struck them down. The man before him was nearly identical to him in appearance but his eyes held the truth. They shone solid gold, dark and powerful. They pulsed with power.

Before him stood the Titan Lord he had destroyed and cast into this place many millenia ago. A time when he was revered by the gods instead of their enemy. His very own father stood mere feet away, Kronos. The Titan Lord of Time. A blood curling smirk shook the King of the gods to the bone as the two stared into one another's eyes. "Father." He gasped in surprise. It seemed the Titan before him was almost at full strength, his aura pulsing with power that seemed to rise slowly.

The smirk on Kronos' face only grew at his sons proclamation. "Hello Perseus, long time no see eh?" He asked with a cheery tone that forced the former King to narrow his eyes in suspicion. The shadows swirled and thickened around the two immortals, Kronos merely stared at the shadows in a neutral and calm expression. The dark black wisps of darkness flowed down to right hand and slowly materialized into a sharp three foot long blade made completely of shadows.

Kronos merely rolled his eyes at Perseus' behavior, fight first talk later. "I am not here to fight you my son," He raised his hands in a placating gesture, hopefully calming his son. Despite his words Perseus did not believe him, of course he would not believe the tyrant that called himself a King. "I just wish to talk." At his eldest child's narrowed eyes he sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly and his molten gold eyes closing briefly as if concentrating deeply. "Perseus, please can you not trust me a little?" He asked.

The god of night scoffed, an incredulous expression plastered on his face as he looked at his father as if he was stupid. "Trust you?" He chuckled. "Trust a man who murders and kills for pleasure, a man who tried to kill his own children just because they were born." He sneered. "Enough of your words Kronos..." Kronos tried to cut in.

"Son please..." But the words caught in his throat at the withering glare his son sent him. He had never seen anything so dangerous and vile, the glow in his eldest child's dark midnight black eyes making him shiver slightly. "Just listen to me."

"Absolutely not." Perseus snarled and without warning he lunged at the Titan Lord.

Kronos' golden eyes widened and he jumped to the side barely sidestepping the strike that nearly cut him in half. He ducked a wild slash at his head, but was not expecting the fist that slammed into his face. He stumbled back a few steps, golden ichor dripping slowly from his nose. The Titan lords eyes burned dangerously bright as time seemed to freeze around the two. The air seemed to freeze and the pit around them stopped moving.

For a few mere seconds Perseus was frozen in his place by his fathers powers. "Please Perseus..." Kronos began but Perseus' body tensed and he lunged at Kronos, his time spell breaking.

"Did you forget I am a deity over time as well." He laughed cruelly. "I am going to destroy you again Titan." He snarled, he brought his blade down with a powerful strike. Kronos tried to dodge but the blade pierced his shoulder. Kronos groaned and gritted his teeth in frustration as he fell to his knees, a blade made of shadows deeply embedded in his shoulder.

The Titan lords skin glowed gold as a shock wave of power lifted the eldest Olympian off of his feet.

Perseus tumbled to the ground, his blade falling from his grasp. He rose shakily and stared his father straight in the eyes. His fathers eyes were burning dangerously bright, his expression was cold and dangerous. A terrible scowl was on his face.

"Enough Perseus." He bellowed at the god. While Kronos understood his sons anger, he had tried to kill him after all many years ago. The Titan did not like the fact that his son held no interest in at least speaking with him. Now, Kronos was slightly weak and immortal ichor dripped from both his shoulder and his nose from the strikes his son had laid upon him.

Perseus remained silent at his angry roar. Not sure what to make of it. He knew that his father would not be able to defeat him in combat, but he seemed like he did not want to fight at all. Maybe his words were true and maybe Perseus should at least listen to his words.

"What do you want?" Perseus snarled, his patience thin but he would at least here his father out.

Kronos paled slightly at his sons tone, the power held deep with his words enough to shake even him in fear. He was by far the only reason the Titans no longer ruled, for had Perseus never been born then the gods would not have overthrew him. "The other Titans and I are rising." He paused briefly gauging Perseus' reaction but he merely raised an eyebrow. He did not seem surprised by his words. "The gods hold no chance against us, their rule shall fall and the Titans shall rule again." He smirked smugly.

Perseus merely closed his eyes briefly. "Why are you telling me this?" He asked Kronos who seemed slightly surprised at the question. "I do not care who rules over the world, currently I am stuck in the middle of hell with my father whom I would most certainly love to destroy." He spoke viciously, his tone filled with venom.

Kronos smirked deviously. "What if I told you I could get you out of this place? Where you can finally be at peace and free from the tortures of Tartarus." At these words Perseus finally seemed at least a tiny bit interested. He certainly wanted to leave this place, anyone would want to leave this hell.

"How so?"

"Piece by piece my essence is being pulled from the pit by demigods of your fellow gods joining my cause, I can bring you with me and the two of us can destroy the gods where they stand and rip Olympus down brick by brick." Kronos laughed psychotically but Perseus seemed unimpressed at his words.

"While that would be great, what do you want in return?" He asked knowing his father would have a reason to come to him and ask for his help, he had been the one to throw him into Tartarus in the first place. While he was curious in joining his fathers cause and escaping this insufferable place but he hated Kronos, the Titans and their rule over the world. He had been the only one of the Olympians to actually live many years during that time and remembered all of the cruel injustices that his father and his siblings had done to the world. The reason why he fought a war to overthrow him in the first place.

Kronos smiled, the smirk blood curling to anyone except his son. It seemed Perseus was the only immortal or mortal alike to not fear his presence. At least the immortals he had met such as the other Titans and the gods of Olympus.

 _A half-blood of the eldest gods_

 _Shall reach sixteen against all odds_

 _And see the world in endless sleep_

 _The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

 _A single choice shall end his days_

 _Olympus to preserve or raze_

Perseus' eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What does this foolish prophecy mean and how does it pertain to this situation?" He asked genuinely curious at the prophecy but Apollo's oracle. It seemed rather dark and morbid, while also talking about the downfall of Olympus. Something Perseus wanted to do himself, not by Kronos' or the Titans side.

"It has everything to deal with this situation. Years ago after this prophecy was uttered by the Oracle, your brothers made a pact by the River Styx to never have anymore children. They wanted to push off my rise and the destruction of Olympus by never having a child but they forgot one crucial piece of this prophecy." Kronos paused letting his son piece it together.

"Me." He gasped in realization. It had been so long since he considered himself an Olympian god that it took a few moments for him to piece it together. "A child of mine could destroy the gods." He turned and stared at his father, narrowing his midnight eyes at his father. "You want me to have a demigod?" He asked appalled. Kronos confirmed with a nod after his words. "Absolutely not." Perseus growled angrily, his eyes glowing dangerously. "I will not leave my child to such a fate. You can take your offer and shove it up your ass." He sneered with ferocity.

Kronos merely chuckled. "Perseus my son," He sighed. "I shall rise in a decade or two anyways. This way we can ensure my victory over the gods and watch as Olympus burns to the ground. I would rather not fight you. You have faced many troubles in your immortal life that I wish for you to no longer suffer."

"No, you lie." Perseus sneered, clenching his fists. "You don't wish to fight me because you are afraid of me, afraid of my power. You are a fool Kronos, a fool. If you think that I will side with you, ha." He laughed mockingly. "I will not side with the man I once fought so hard to defeat. Leave my presence before I cut you into tiny pieces again." He growled, Kronos stared at his son in surprise and a tiny bit of apprehension. Of course he was right, he knew that in a fair one on one battle he would probably be unable to defeat his eldest child.

"This is your chance for revenge, to destroy those that betrayed you." He made a fist and his expression was determined. Perseus' eye twitched in anger and frustration, the worst part was he was considering his fathers offer. While he hated the Titan before him and wished for nothing more than to cut him into tiny pieces and toss him into the deepest pits of hell once again, he was right. He hated those that went against him. He would cast Zeus into Tartarus and see how he liked it. But he would do to Zeus what he had done to Kronos. He opened his mouth to speak but his father continued. "Have you not seen the atrocities they have commit? What they have done to this world?"

Perseus merely stared at him confused, he had heard stories from various monsters he had destroyed and tortured but from what he had heard the gods rule was not as bad at the Titans.

Kronos chuckled darkly. "Ah," He said as his eyes lit up in realization. "I had forgotten just how long you have been in this _pit."_ He said with venom clear in his tone. Kronos took a step forward and immediately his son stepped away. He would not let the being he hated most get anywhere near him unless he was to kill them.

"Get away from me you _filth._ "

Kronos grinned widely. "I swear by the Styx what I show you will cause no harm unto you." Thunder boomed loudly in the distance as his father took another step towards him. Perseus did nothing as Kronos put his index finger to his forehead. Images flashed by his head, quickly but enough for the god to be able to soak in the gods and their deeds. He saw many things, gruesome, terrible things. The gods seemed to not care about what their actions did for the world, nor did they care about their children.

But the image that struck him the most, he watched as Zeus blasted a hotel into oblivion to kill two children. Instead he murdered Hades lover and probably did not care about the mortals he struck down. He closed his eyes briefly for a moment, struggling to contain his anger and disgust at the actions of the Olympians and specifically Zeus, his youngest brother.

The god of night clenched his fists in anger, his nails embedding deep into his palms drawing immortal ichor as his black eyes were wide. Before he could speak Kronos spoke before him. "I swear by the Styx that everything I just showed you was real and happened?" Thunder boomed sealing the oath.

Perseus' eyes widened in realization. "They're worse." He gasped, the Olympians were worse than the Titans. This era of the world was disastrous for both the world and the mortals that walked it. All of them needed to be stopped in order for the balance of the world to right itself again. What Kronos said was compelling, but he wished to destroy the gods on his own terms.

"I...I..." Perseus was speechless. He would have thought that Artemis, Apollo or Athena would have stopped the tyranny of the other Olympian gods but they just sat there and idly watched everything with a straight face. They had truly changed since they betrayed him without a second thought.

Suddenly golden light flickering caught his eye as Kronos' body began to glow with a golden hue as he stared at his son, his form flickered momentarily. The lord of time groaned in pain and raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"What just happened?" He asked in surprise.

The Titan Lord sighed. "I am not at full strength..." He paused briefly. "Yet. My time to speak with you is running thin. Together we can rule over the world, watch as Olympus is burned to the ground and the gods face the punishment they deserve." There was a maniacal plastered on Kronos' face. A psychotic gleam in his evil gold eyes. "When I obtain full power no god or goddess will be able to stop me. I offer you one last chance to join me my son. Should you not, then you are my enemy. Choose wisely Perseus." Kronos' eyes flashed bright before his body flickered and vanished.

Leaving his eldest child to debate his fathers words. Were they sincere? He wondered. The Titan lord was known for his silver tongue and manipulation, he was by far the most manipulative and intelligent bastards in history. His rule over the earth was a terrible time for mortals and other creatures alike. But what he had just seen in his vision was far worse than what he had experienced when living in the era of the Titans. At least the Titans cared for their children, minus Kronos, the gods seemed to not care one bit. Something that only fueled his rage at the Olympians.

Was Kronos the true evil here? And if not should he fight on the side of the Titans or his own.

He was not sure, he knew that either way the gods reign was over. The Titans were powerful and had it not been for him and the many, many minor gods and goddesses whom sided with him then the Titans would still be ruling. But now, after seeing Kronos' vision and how the Olympians abused their power and neglected the _minor_ deities of Olympus, Perseus was sure they would side with the Titan Lord or stay neutral and allow the gods reign to end.

Perseus walked aimlessly through Tartarus, the pit oddly quiet. For hours he had walked and encountered no monsters, for the first time since being here their was absolutely nothing around him. No monsters wailing, immortals out hungry for blood. His thoughts were centered on both his suspicion of what exactly was happening as well as his fathers words and the Olympians.

Everything the Olympians had done in those images struck a chord, very few if any had been good for the fate of the world. He would have thought that Artemis, Apollo or Athena would put a stop to these terrible acts against the world, but all just sat idly by in their thrones and watched as the world slowly crumbled to dust beneath them, no care in the world they ruled over. He hated the gods with a burning passion, but he also hated the Titans. Should he choose to interfere he would either pick one side or be stuck in the middle and forced to fight two wars. He wished for his own personal revenge against the gods but still did not wish for the Titans to rule.

Should he sire a child as Kronos suggested? He wondered as he continued lazily across the blood red plains of Tartarus. He felt as if he was being watched, despite their being nothing in the area. His son or daughter could destroy Olympus as the prophecy suggested but he would not be able to live with himself for the fate that he thrusted onto an innocent child. Nor did he wish to break the heart of some mortal. He wanted to be in love and sadly had not found anything yet. Although he had been burning in hell with nothing more than psychotic monsters and immortals who only took pleasure in spilling blood.

A shudder suddenly ran through his body and the air around him turned dangerously cold, he shivered as he felt a pull and force trying to force him to continue forward. A hundred meters ahead of him, the pit seemingly just ended and the darkness before him was vast empty and endless. There was nothing there and some being or his instincts were telling him he should continue forward. His feet were getting heavier and the darkness was getting thicker and suffocating. Well not to him, this was his domain and he felt at ease despite the cold and numb feeling.

A voice appeared in his head. Elegant and faint.

 _"Your domain?"_ The voice questioned with a menacing hiss. The words pounding his skull with suffocating power, the darkness suddenly increased as Perseus stopped a foot away from the cliff that went endless straight down. _"This is my domain godling."_ The voice was female and laced with power, enough to make his knees wobble. The former King of the gods stared forward as a figure began to materialize out of darkness.

A woman more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen appeared before him. Well, not exactly a woman. She was thirty feet tall, long raven black hair as dark as night and black starry eyes that were very similar to his. She stared down at him with fire in her eyes. The aura she emitted was deadly. Had he not been immortal than he was sure he would be turned to ashes.

"Night." He said in awe at the powerful Primordial goddess in front of him.

The giant Primordial seemed surprised as a smile graced her lips. She was pleased to be recognized.

The darkness thickened and wrapped around the eldest god tight and pulled him forward towards the pit deeper than Tartarus. He restrained and tried to fight the shadows with his power over the night, after all he shared the same domain as the Primordial goddess. Inches away from being pulled into the very same voice appeared in his head, nearly shattering his mind to shreds.

 _"We have much to discuss godling."_

 **Long time no see, eh. It's been a while and I am deeply sorry. Thanks for reading this.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to more of the story.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


	3. Among the Shadows

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Among the Shadows**

The goddess shrank to his height and floated above the chasm, her eyes were pitch black voids. While his were filled with the stars, her's were like a black hole. They pulsed with barely restrained power. Without so much as movement from the goddess, the bonds of darkness that restrained him dissolved. He rose to full height, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Son of Kronos..." She whispered. Her right hand reaching forward and coming inches from his face. "Your aura is remarkable." A hungry look appeared on her face before vanishing quickly. Leaving Perseus to believe he had imagined it. "For a god, you hold the power of a Primordial." She mused as she closed her eyes, her posture relaxing and calming. "Interesting, very interesting."

Perseus' eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "What?"

Her right eye opened and peered at him. The blackness and power within her orbs enticed him. "You hold power, indescribable power. The likes of which I have never seen, yet you are trapped here. In the prison of your enemies. You met your father, his power is returning. The Titans are rising to challenge the gods for Earth, for their thrones. He offered you a place by his side, to rule. Why did you decline such an offer? Knowing that surely with you by their side, the Titans could easily crush the gods. The Olympians were barely able to defeat Kronos when you fought for them." She pondered curiously.

"My father is unfit to rule the world, just as Zeus is unable. I shall not side with the Titans nor the gods, I plan on taking the world for my own. To bring it back to its former glory."

"One god, no matter how powerful cannot fight a war on two fronts alone. Surely you are smart enough to be aware of this? The gods are failing to see the Titans rise. In their arrogance and ignorance, Kronos' power is returning, as is yours."

"Yes, I am aware. However, the Titans are just as corrupted, just as evil. My father does not plan on returning the world to its former glory, he plans on salting and burning the earth to cleanse it of the gods rule, slaughtering all the innocent mortals and demigods in his path. Everything built shall be razed to the ground and I will not allow that to happen. The gods do not deserve to rule that is true, but everything cannot be destroyed."

A smile graced the goddess' lips. "You are interesting for a god. You are so unlike the rest, many using their powers to seduce mortals and spawn offspring that shall live a horrible life. Or mess with mortal affairs for your own amusement. I find you..." She paused briefly and licked her lips. "Very interesting." She said with a seductive smile.

Perseus closed his eyes briefly. "What do you want?" He asked bluntly.

Instead of being offended the goddess merely smirked. "The power you hold is enticing, seductive. It is drawing, I am surprised you have never sired a child before." She mused, seemingly ignoring his question. "Your father told you of the so called _great_ prophecy?"

"Yes a child of the sons of my father, shall make a choice that either leads to the destruction of Olympus, or victory for the Titans." A cruel smirk plastered across the face of Nyx, her eyes gleaming.

"No, it does not state that it would be the Titans defeating Olympus. It states that Olympus will be destroyed, I think it means you. Not the Titans."

"Oh!" Perseus stated in realization. His eyes widening, before they narrowed. "So what are you saying I should do?" He asked the deity of night curiously. He pondered the words of the prophecy in his head, clearly his brothers had forgotten about him when deciding they should not sire a child any longer.

"I think you know."

"You want me to sire a child?" He asked incredulously. "Why even involve yourself in my affairs, when you no longer have a place in the world."

"You presume much godling." She stated with an eyebrow raised. "You know not of my affairs in the mortal world. Do not assume it is only Titans and monsters stirring Perseus. The Primordial gods are also awakening. Even asleep their power is suffocating. I believe you have faced my sister Gaea?"

His shoulders dropped slightly and his eyes widened. "You're saying Gaea is rising as well?" He asked, slightly concerned. Nyx merely nodded at his words, ignoring his shocked facial expression.

"Not only Gaea. The others as well, Chronus, Erebus, Hydros, Aether. All of them are stirring. They are awakening from their millenia of slumber. Their power knows no bounds."

"Are you saying there will be a Primordial war."

"Precisely." Nyx confirmed. "Not all shall rise and wage war upon Earth. But there are some, Gaea the foremost that wish to take the world for their own."

"Why have you awakened? Why are you not in a millenia long slumber as the other Primordial gods and goddesses?"

Nyx smiled. "It does not matter." She waved the question off. "What matters is that war is being waged. Earth will become a battleground and I am here to help you."

"Why?"

"You help me, I help you." The smile on her face morphed more into a smirk, smug and dangerous. "I wish to be free from this wretched place. I wish to return to my domain on Earth. Nothing more, nothing less. I am a peaceful being, I do not wish for everything to be destroyed, nor do I wish to take place in a war."

"Then why come to me when I am looking to start precisely that?" Perseus asked, his confusion steadily rising.

"Freedom, I am imprisoned here not because it is a imprisonment. But because I choose to be stuck in this wretched pit. My power exceeds my ability to diminish my aura, as does yours. Should I choose to return to the mortal world and reclaim my domain, the gods would sense me and presume I am preparing for war. Despite my power as a Primordial, one cannot defeat the entire Olympian council. Nor do I wish to fight any."

"Then why not side with the Primordial', or the Titans for that matter then?" Her eyes lit at his question and she scrutinized him carefully.

"Those that are on your side, those that you can trust, they have your unwavering devotion and loyalty. There is nothing that you wound't do for them, as well as you always keep your promises. I can peer into the mortal world, your domain is also mine. I can sense your power." She paused briefly, letting some of her words sink in. The expression on his face was unreadable and cold. His star filled eyes showed no emotion. "The Primordial' would expect me to either fight for them or submit to their will and the Titans, they would expect me to betray them and try to destroy me the minute Olympus has crumbled."

"That is all you want?" He asked surprised. "To just be in the mortal world?"

"Yes." She said, her eyes sparkling. "I am an entity of night, I can form a body yes, but my form is literally darkness and shadows of night. That is all I want."

Perseus was having a hard time on whether or not to believe her words, their were many cunning immortal minds. In fact his father was legendary for his own silver tongue, but he lacked allies. He did not have the power nor the strength to wage a war against both the Titans and the Olympians. This he was certain. Not only if he accepted her offer, would he gain eyes and ears on the other Protogenoi, but he would also gain a powerful ally.

"What can you offer me?" He asked her, not sure what she could exactly give him.

"I can get you out of here, out of this place. Something that you have been unable to do, but also, I can give you eyes and ears on the other Primordial'. Something they would all be unaware of, as well as happenings in this pit. I am millenia old as well, far older than you young one, I can offer you advice and wisdom. I am very powerful and can be a very powerful ally. Should you give the chance."

"And if I don't accept your offer?" Perseus asked.

"Then you shall rot in this place until you can muster up a way to escape." Her eyes narrowed dangerously, glaring at him. Her aura began to pulse with unrestrained power that wanted to destroy him.

"Very well Lady Nyx, I accept your gracious offer." He told her nervously. Desperately he wanted a way out of this place. To never return to the pit, the place was terrible. Even for an Olympian with his power.

The angry scowl on Nyx' face disappeared immediately and turned into a gleeful smile, her deep black eyes sparkled. "Thank you, Lord Perseus." Her tone seemed grateful and excited. "I have much to offer you. Many schemes and plans that will make taking the world far easier."

"Such as?"

Here she chuckled. "We cannot continue here, we must get away from prying _eyes."_

Perseus seemed confused. "What are you talking about? We've been talking for the last hour."

"Just as I am the actually entity of night, what do you think this place is?" She waved her hand around. Realization dawned on the eldest gods face as Nyx wrapped her arms around him and brought him into a gentle embrace. Before he could comment on what the Hades she was doing, the two dissolved into the darkness.

Perseus felt himself regain his bearings just a moment later, his eyes opened and he glanced around the room. Pitch black and dark, absolutely no light. Using his powers he could see everything and was surprised to find himself in a simple throne room. The walls, made of obsidian and a single door leading to a throne seemingly made of darkness.

The Primordial goddess of night appeared before the throne a second later and lounged luxuriously on the chair in such a way that Perseus was hardly able to advert his eyes from her enthralling figure and bust. She smirked at the elder gods reaction.

Clearing his throat, he regained his senses. "Where are we?" He asked the goddess curiously.

She merely smirked. "The Mansion of Night, Perseus. Away from the ears of my brother Tartarus. This is my throne room and my palace. You should feel honored, after all, you are the only non Primordial being to step foot in my palace." Her eyes raked up and down his body and Perseus was beginning to wonder if she brought him down here for another reason than to talk.

"What do we need to discuss?" He asked, gulping slightly at the hungry gleam that appeared in Nyx' dark eyes. A sultry smirk danced onto her lips.

"How you're going to escape, your plans. It won't take long at all. But first, perhaps we could do something else..." The goddess trailed off suggestively.

Perseus blinked, once, twice. Before the realization of her words sunk in. "Oh!" He exclaimed in surprise. This super powerful being, a Primordial goddess wanted him to... to... He shook his head and tried to clear his mind of those thoughts. "Don't you have a husband?" He asked, trying to resist her temptations.

Nyx frowned slightly. "Yes, but he has been slumbering for millenia." She narrowed her eyes. "You are certainly interesting Perseus. Not many can resist my temptation, immortal or mortals. I must ask why? Someone else capture your heart? Hmmmm." She pondered. Her eyes still scanning his body.

His face soured at her words. "Can you just tell me how to get out of here?" He growled.

"Testy, very testy. Very well Perseus." She took a deep breath. "The Mansion of Night has an entry point into the mortal world. Heavily concealed and very dangerous to travel through. Only a deity of night and shadows can travel through these points. You must travel through the night directly into the mortal world. You fail, and you are lost in the abyss of Chaos."

"So basically shadow travelling." She shook her head.

"No, you must become the darkness and merge with it. You cannot shadow travel directly out of here. It is a bridge to the mortal world that you must travel across."

Perseus nodded in understanding. "Can you show me? I must be on my way."

Nyx nodded. "But first, I am going to offer you a bit of advice. The choice of Olympus' fate resides on a child of the eldest sons of Kronos. Do you really think you can trust or sway a child of your brothers?"

 **Hey long time no see, eh?**

 **Sorry this took so long and blah, blah, blah really long apology.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	4. By Your Choice

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 4**

 **By Your Choice**

"WHERE IS HE? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?" A high pitched and hysterical voice screamed. Shining black orbs glowed in power as the girl, hardly nine years old in age leaped forward and gripped the front of her mothers shirt. Tears flowed down her eyes as she glared fiercely at her mother, who was shivering under the power and revulsion shining in the same eyes of the man she fell for nine years ago. The shadows around the two darkened and thickened. Coiling around the two in response to the little girls anger and hate.

"Thalia..." The mother spoke shakily and nervously. The power that was radiating off of her daughter was making her skin itch and making her fearful of her wrath. "I... I tried..." She began, but Thalia snarled.

"SHUT UP!" She exclaimed, her face red with hateful anger. Her eyes bloodshot from crying. "Tell me where my little brother is." She roared, a shock wave of power rippled from her aura and hit her mother in the chest. Blasting her into the wall behind the two. Her eyes widened in surprise and she ran a hand through her short and spiky raven black hair.

Her mother groaned as she tried to rise, but her body screamed in protest. "Listen here..." She began, wagging her finger at her daughter. Rage building, but her daughter did not let her continue.

"Tell me where he is now. What did you do to him?" She sneered. Despite the fact she was nine years old, she was practically glowing in power. Her mother shivered in fright, the aura she was pulsing with reminded her of her fathers. But far more fierce.

"Hera." Her mother finally spat. "She took him in her jealously of me, Jason is dead." She said mournfully, saddened by the loss of her youngest child. "If only Zeus would help me, you bastard." She snarled at the sky. The crack of thunder exploded in the distance and she scowled.

"Shut up mother," Thalia spat. "This is no ones fault but your own. You didn't even protect your own child." She growled.

Finally Beryl Grace rose from her position on the ground, despite the harsh and powerful glare from her daughter she stepped forward and raised her hand as if to hit her. But before she could strike Thalia, a hand grabbed her wrist. She turned to the newcomer who dared to touch her. Her blue eyes met the shining star filled black orbs the exact same as her daughter. A silent but peaceful aura of power emanated from him, calming both Thalia and her mother.

Still by far the most handsome man she had ever laid her eyes upon, his face as if carved from stone, his spiky and raven black hair darker than the night sky itself falling to just before his eyes. Tan skin and shining black orbs filled with stars and galaxies. An occasional golden comet flashing through his irises. He wore the same clothes as he did when the two had first met, black jeans and a blue hoodie. Looking far too ordinary for the powerful being he surely was.

"Perseus..." She whispered in surprise.

Thalia's draw dropped at the man before her. Just as her mother had described, the most handsome man she had ever met. The most powerful being she had ever come across. Her mother assumed he was a god, but the only problem was, Thalia had searched and researched all of Greek mythology as she could, but not once was a god or immortal being named Perseus ever even mentioned.

"You're my dad?" Thalia asked in surprise, a strange glint in her eyes.

Perseus merely turned to her and stared deeply into her eyes, the exact same odd irises as she. He gave her a quick nod. She gasped and raised her hand to her mouth, her eyes widening in shock and awe. Before her excitement turned to anger. The darkness tightened and darkened, as Thalia had noticed often happened when she became angry, but the god merely smiled brilliantly and quickly flicked his wrist. The darkness subsiding.

"Please my dear," His tone was so endearing, so full of love and affection that Thalia was momentarily stunned, the anger that was bubbling in her heart ebbed away. His smile was so captivating and he seemed proud of her power over the shadows. "I will explain everything if you give me the chance." Thalia found herself unable to return the rage and anger that usually occurred whenever her mother mentioned her father. Her mother always spoke of him in reverie. The exact opposite of how she spoke of Zeus. Whom she always spat his name and always cursed the lord of the skies.

Thalia always wondered what was so great about her father that her mother cared for him deeply whiling scorning the King of Olympus when both had done the exact same thing to her. She was snapped out of her trance as Perseus gently cupped her cheek. "My dear?" He questioned, his eyes which pulsed with power and affection, seemed concerned and slightly nervous if Thalia could judge his emotions accurately. Was the being before her scared that she would reject him? Did he actually care for her? And if he did then why did he leave her alone for nine years with only her mother?

Thalia averted her eyes from his gaze and merely nodded. Letting the deity before him know she wanted him to continue.

"Perseus." Her mothers voice snapped both Perseus' and Thalia's attention to her face. "What are you doing here?" She asked, smoothing her pants nervously. Suddenly his eyes turned harsh and they glared fiercely at her.

"Other than to stop you from laying a hand on _my child._ " He spat in contempt, the sneer on his face so spiteful and the tone of his voice so full of venom that Thalia flinched fiercely despite the words not being directed at her. "You dare to strike my child?" He hissed, a meteor exploded in his orbs as Beryl shook under his gaze.

"She is my child as well..." She tried to protest meekly, but Perseus merely raised his hand to stop her from continuing.

"I do not want to hear your excuses." He turned away from her and lowered himself onto a knee in front of his child, coming down to her height. "Your brother is alive my dear." He informed her. Thalia's eyes widened and her eyes filled with tears.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"He is safe, the queen of the heavens despite her shortcomings made sure of that. Please, I need you to trust me. It is not safe, for both yourself and I to be around your brother." Thalia began to protest, her eyes sparkling with fresh tears and her face turning red in anger. He raised a hand to silence her. "Please my dear, just listen." She shivered, every time her father called her dear, her heart warmed slightly. The words were so affectionate that she was beginning to believe he actually cared for her. "Five years ago, the King of Olympus came to your mother. Not because of her, but because of you." He told her.

Thalia's eyes filled with confusion, as did Beryl's but Perseus was hardly even recognizing her presence. "Your power was something he had not seen in such a long time he was curious. He wanted to know just who was your parent. He came to your mother to study your aura. He was scared and frightened of the answer."

"Why?" Thalia asked in confusion and wonder, the lord of the skies and King of Olympus scared of her power and aura? Was she truly that powerful? Was the being before her truly that powerful?

"Millennia ago, things were far different in the times of Ancient Greece. Different gods, strange mortals. But I was once an Olympian, stricken from history by my brothers and sisters. Jason's father," Thalia began to notice he was avoiding to say Zeus. "Cast me from Olympus because he was jealous of my power, jealous of me."

Thalia's eyes widened in stunned surprise, her father was not only a god, but one so powerful that the King of Olympus was jealous of his power. But, if Zeus was the King of Olympus, why would he be scared of Perseus' power. Surely if he had the throne, Perseus was not that much more powerful than he.

As if reading her thoughts, a sad smile crossed his face. "I was once the King of Olympus, I was also the eldest son of Kronos and Rhea."

"Was?" Thalia asked confused.

Perseus' eyes flared with anger, before he sighed. The sadness overcoming the anger. "The Olympians overthrew me, my little brother was jealous of my power. Jealous of my rule, he wanted the throne for himself. So, he plotted with my siblings and the other Olympians." Perseus spat hatefully. "Then he cast me into the worst place in all of Greek mythology."

Thalia gasped, her eyes widening in fear and sadness. "Tartarus?" She questioned.

Her father gave her a solemn nod of the head before he abruptly turned his gaze away as if he was ashamed. "Yes. I escaped the pit around a decade ago. The gods have no idea I returned and my little brother wanted to make sure you weren't my child. To make sure you were not a threat to his continued rule."

Thalia stared at her father, wondering why he was suddenly avoiding her gaze. He was hiding something. "Then why have me then? If I threatened your existence and your cover, if my life would be in danger, why have me then?" Her anger was beginning to rise again, but there was also a sense of confusion. As if he was regretful and in pain for having her in the first place, while also loving and caring for her more than what her mother had told her of the gods.

"I made a lapse in judgement, your mother was beautiful, she was kind and caring. I was lonely, so very lonely." His words were hollow, thick with remorse and regret, the sadness deep within his eyes made Thalia want to start crying. He had been alone for thousands of years in the worst place on earth. Struggling with the pain of betrayal at the hands of his family. "My family, I cared about them and they drove a knife in my back. I guess I needed comfort, something." He stated bitterly, tears beginning to form in his eyes. How was he supposed to tell his daughter the prophecy that laid over her head? Should he tell her the entire truth?

"Your mother was far different than she was now. She would have never struck a child." He growled, his eyes turning to Beryl's with a fierce glare that made her shiver. Before he turned back to his first and only child, reaching forward and gently cupping her cheek in his hands. "My dear Thalia." He said wistfully. "I am sorry that you were born. For the fate you could suffer because of my lapse in judgement, but don't think for one second I do not care about you. I love you more than anything in the world, you are my first and only child. I would rather be thrown in Tartarus again than let anything happen to you. But," He paused briefly and closed his eyes. "Your fate is yours to forge. But I will guide you along the way."

There were tears in his eyes and that was something she had noticed was far different in this god than Zeus. Emotion. The raw emotions that filled his face and eyes were far different than the King of Olympus. Zeus only had lust in his eyes whenever Thalia had seen him, no love, kindness or anything else. No emotion except the primal needs the gods had. Perseus was the opposite. He was regretful, and sorry she was born but he loved her.

She remembered a glow, a warm smile. The rush and flow of the shadows around her, eyes unnaturally black and filled with galaxies and stars staring down at her with a serene smile. The rush of warm emotions as she stared at her father was intense and captivating. "You..." She pointed her finger at him as if realizing he had been there to visit her before. "I remember, you visited me when I was younger."

A beatific smile crossed his face. Lopsided and perfect, she had his hair, his eyes and his smile as well. She was eternally grateful, as she wanted nothing to do with her mother.

"Yes. Often and quite frequently. You were my child and I wanted to stay with you, but I could sense my brother approaching. I had to leave in order to keep you safe. Otherwise, both you and your mother would be in danger at my hands. For if he ever found out you are my child. He would surely strike you down." He said, a scowl forming on his face briefly. "I am so sorry for leaving you. But I had to."

Thalia nodded, and gathering her courage, the young girl lunged forward and wrapped her arms in her fathers embrace. His arms immediately wrapped around her and brought her close. She sighed blissfully. Is this what a child feels when their parents love them? She wondered as a rush of warmth flowed through her body. His embrace was comforting and tingling, soft and inviting and tears filled her eyes as she started crying into his shoulder, despite him not being there she understood what he did was necessary to protect her. He was there for her when he was younger, he was also here for her now.

He kissed the top of her head softly. "I am so sorry my dear." He whispered sadly. But Thalia hardly cared for his words, she could feel his love and affection in his words and in his actions. They were far more caring and loving than anything that her mother had done for her.

Slowly, Thalia pulled away from his embrace and Perseus wiped the tears on her cheeks away with his thumb. Suddenly, her face scrunched up in concentration. "If I am so powerful, how come monsters never attack us, especially since my brother is a child of..."

Perseus cut her off with a smirk. "I repelled the monsters away from both you and your brother. My power is immense after all and I knew you would be in danger at all times."

"So what now?"

"You are the child of a god, Thalia. Your destiny is yours to decide. There is a safe haven for other demigods in New York. With others your age. You would be safe there." He told her.

"I'm safe here?" She asked him uncertainly, her eyes flickering towards her mother. Something Perseus noticed, he scowled.

"Safe from monsters yes." He growled at Beryl.

"Would Zeus find out about my parentage?" She asked nervously.

Perseus shook his head. "No." He stated. "He determined you were not my child the first time he visited, he would keep a close eye on you yes, wondering whose child you were. But, he would never piece together that you were mine. Many on Olympus believed I faded long ago, or that I was unable to escape the pit. You would be safe, and you would be with others who understand."

"How would I get there?" She asked curiously, wondering if he could just pop her there.

"You would leave this place behind and your mother and travel east. I would guide you in your endeavor but you must choose the path you walk yourself."

"I'm only nine." She said. "How am I supposed to get all the way to New York?"

 **Wassup my faithful readers.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter**

 **Please review the good bad and the ugly.**


	5. Journey

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Journey**

Thalia snarled in anger, her eyes flashing with rage as she spun nimbly out of the way of a sword, before driving her spear through the chest of a cyclops and then bashing the shield on her left arm into the face of a lunging hell-hound. She stood back to back with her blonde haired companion, whom was parrying and knocking away swords with a short bronze dagger. His blue eyes alight with fire as he slashed down monster after monster, turning each to golden dust.

The darkness surrounding them only increased with Thalia's emotions. She cut down the last of the monsters before turning to her lone companion. Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. Blood dripped down his face and his left arm, but he hardly seemed to notice.

"Thalia!" He called as he took off. "Come on." He called back. She growled in frustration, her chest heaving and took off after the quick son of Hermes.

"You still haven't told me what's so important." She snapped as she finally came up next to them. She turned to him, her eyebrows furrowed and a questioning expression on her face, before them was an alleyway. Nothing special, a lone light dimly flickering. Providing just enough light to see the disgusting trash and the curtain that hung over what seemed to be an entryway.

"I sense something." He told her.

Thalia looked to the son of Hermes and merely raised an inquisitive eyebrow in his direction. "What is it?" She asked as she readied her spear. Luke merely turned to her and shrugged, huffing in frustration the daughter of Perseus stepped forward warily in step with Luke.

"Are you sure?" Thalia asked and Luke nodded briefly.

Thalia jumped back as the curtain ruffled slightly. Luke chuckled silently before cringing at Thalia's stern glare pointed directly at him. Luke raised his index finger to his lips and then pointed at the curtain. She merely nodded as the son of Hermes cautiously took a step forward and went to grab the curtains. As he pulled them away, a small girl, no older than seven lunged out at him. Her bright blonde hair bouncing around her as she swung her hammer at Luke.

With impossible quickness, Luke dodged the swing and caught the young girls wrist. "Monsters!" The girl whispered in terrified fright.

"No, no." Luke whispered. "We're not monsters." He whispered soothingly. "We fight monsters, I'm Luke, this is Thalia." He gestured to Thalia. His blue eyes stared into her startled and intelligent grey ones. Luke turned to Thalia. "Put that away, you're scaring her." Thalia immediately slapped her wrist and the shield spiraled out of view.

"Where are your parents?" Luke questioned.

The girl merely growled. "My parents didn't care about me." She whispered sadly. "I ran away." Thalia and Luke shared a look, she was just like them. Demigods in the world with a parent who didn't care about them. Thalia smiled brightly at the girl who was staring at Luke in wonder.

"Would you like to come with us?" She asked in a soothing tone.

Thalia was slightly startled when the grey eyes of the girl turned to her and started to analyse her.

A smile overcame her face as she nodded. "You promise you won't take me back to my family?" She asked, her lips pouting as her eyes darted between Luke and Thalia.

The son of Hermes smiled and nodded. "Yes, we'll be your new family."

"Promise?" The little girl asked, eyes wide.

"Promise." Luke assured her and Thalia smiled.

Luke then looked at the hammer in the little girls hand. "A hammer's not really a good weapon against monsters. How would you like a real monster slaying weapon?" The little girls eyes went wide again and she nodded enthusiastically. "I'm thinking you're pretty smart and can handle it."

The girl smiled brightly. "I am." She exclaimed proudly as Luke pulled the bronze dagger from his sheath and flipped the handle towards the little girl who took the offered weapon and stared in wonder at it.

"What's your name kiddo?" Thalia asked.

"Annabeth."

"Where are we going?" The young girl asked the two as she grabbed Luke's hand as he led her out of the alleyway. She seemed content just walking along with the two and holding Luke's hand.

"We have a little camp nearby." Thalia told her. "But we're on our way to Long Island. There's a camp there for people like us." She informed the younger girl.

"Monster hunters?" She asked curiously, her grey eyes taking in everything around the three and it was slightly unnerving to Thalia to see that young of a girl analyzing and assessing her entire situation.

"Demigods." Luke cut in. "Children of the gods, Apollo, Aphrodite and those gods. It's supposedly the only safe place for people like us." Luke told her before turning to Thalia whom merely shrugged her shoulders. Minutes later the three camp up to a little encampment built in the woods, covered and hidden in thick brush.

"We'll stay here for tonight and continue our journey in the morning." Luke said. "I'll take first watch, get some rest kiddo." Luke told Annabeth before letting go of her hand. "You too Thalia, you look exhausted."

Thalia merely grunted in reply and laid down on the ground, bringing a tiny and thin blanket up around her after making sure Annabeth was getting rest. She seemed to be having a hard time leaving Luke's side and it made her chuckle slightly. Look like someone has a crush. She mused.

 _Thalia's eyes slowly opened. The darkness around her was suffocating, enveloping her. For a minute all she could see was darkness before it vanished and a warm orange glow enveloped her eyesight. Appearing before her eyes was a warm and comforting fire. Blazing powerfully with an orange, red hue. Other than the fire there was nothing else except darkness. As if the two were at ease with one another._

 _Mysteriously, just as the fire had done a beautiful young woman appeared sitting in front of the fire. She looked to be about eighteen years old, a regal and aristocratic face with a splash of freckles staring into the flames. Her warm brown hair cascaded down her back and her flawless white skin glowed in the warmth of the fire. Thalia was slightly self-conscious staring at the woman before her. Beautiful, flawless and elegant. She put her to shame._

 _The woman turned away from the fire and stared straight at Thalia. The daughter of Perseus gasped as she saw eyes just as unusual as hers, opposite of the night sky hers were. Roaring and flaming embers that glowed brightly stared deep into her orbs._

 _'This had to be a goddess.' Thalia mused, only a goddess could look so perfect._

 _The woman before her chuckled and Thalia flushed realizing she could read her thoughts._

 _"Please dear," The goddess waved her arm to next to her. Her warm and kind tone reminding her of her fathers words of affection. "Take a seat."_

 _However, despite how kind she may seem, she was still a goddess. Which one? Thalia was unsure, but better to be respectful than be blasted into a million of tiny pieces. "Yes mi'lady." She spoke after a moment of silence, before taking a seat near the flames and basking in the warmth that extended across her._

 _The goddess merely raised an eyebrow._ _"No need to call me lady, Thalia." The goddess told her with a bright and perfect smile._

 _"You know my name?" Thalia asked surprised a goddess would actually know the name of a demigod. As far as she could tell, not many immortals cared for the half bloods that were stuck in the world. Her father was seemingly rare in showing his affection amongst the gods._

 _"Yes, I do." She stated as she stroked the embers of the flame with a stick._

 _"If I may ask..." But the goddess cut her words off rather quickly._

 _"I am Hestia, goddess of the hearth." She informed her._

 _"The eldest child of Kronos and Rhea?" Thalia asked, if this was his fathers sister than she might have pieced together that she was his child. She needed to make sure the goddess did not know that Perseus had returned. After all, her father had never told her which gods had exactly betrayed him. Had Hestia been a helping hand in casting her father into Tartarus? It seemed entirely possible._

 _The goddess frowned slightly and her eyebrows raised. Suddenly the warmth in her eyes turned cold, sadness crept onto her face and Thalia was unsure but it seemed like tears were about to fall from her face._

 _"Do not lie to me child." She said, suddenly harsh in tone. Thalia's eyes widened in surprise as the seemingly peaceful goddess suddenly growled at her. "I am not the eldest," Hestia continued, a large frown on her face. "But I am sure you know this. Do you not?" Hestia asked, her eyes narrowed as she looked into the same star filled orbs of her eldest brother._

 _Thalia was unsure of how to respond to the goddesses question. Out of fear? Yes. Nor did she want to betray her fathers trust by telling someone who could possibly lead to his capture._

 _"Thalia." The goddess spoke softly. "I have not seen nor heard of my dear eldest brother in many millenia." The frown of sadness and the hollowed look in the goddesses eyes were evidently clear to Thalia how much Hestia missed her brother. "I can sense your aura, your power. But especially, I remember those eyes. How they used to look at me with such kindness, with affection. How they twinkled with the stars of the night sky..." She trailed off in a trance._

 _"Perseus may be able to hide your origins from my youngest brother, but not from me." The goddess continued. "You are his child." It did not seem like a question to Thalia. The goddess knew of the answer already. Why she wanted to talk to her? Thalia had no idea. Why didn't she immediately take her to Zeus? No idea either. The goddess seemed content to just stare into the flames and think wistfully of her elder brother._

 _"I don't even know..." She tried to lie but the goddess cut her off quickly._

 _"Yes you do." She stated. "I am not a fool Thalia. You are the first child child ever to be born of the eldest Olympian. I never thought I would see the day." Hestia said, her tone still sad. "You wish to protect your father, but I mean him no harm. I miss him more than anything in this world." Hestia informed the daughter of her brother. "I was curious as to whether or not you were when I sensed your power. But..." She paused and her eyes flickered to Thalia. "Now that I am here, your eyes make it clear who your father is."_

 _"Will anyone else be able to figure it out?" Thalia asked slightly concerned that the goddess would rat her out to the King of Olympus._

 _Hestia just shook her head. "Besides me?" A look of disgust crossed over her face. "The gods care little about their children, and certainly not the children of others. Most don't even know you exist." She told the young child. "It seems as though your father cares greatly about you though." A wistful smile crossing the goddesses face._

 _A smile threatened to break Thalia's cheeks, her eyes dancing with excitement. But how did this goddess know? Perseus had led her to Luke, given her weapons, food and clothing to guide her way the Camp Half-Blood. His power over shadows made it far easier to know where they were going and she could see in the darkness._

 _"His aura surrounds you, protects you. There is no doubt if you were in danger that he would be there within an instant. He can sense your dream has taken you away."_

 _"And he has done nothing?" She asked curiously._

 _Her wistful smile morphed into a bright, happy smile. "It seems he does not believe that I would cause harm to you. Which is accurate. We used to be close." The flames before them got brighter as if Hestia were recounting her fond memories of Perseus. "He has probably pieced together that I know of his return and that is why I am talking to you. Your father was always very intelligent."_

 _Thalia frowned slightly. "Is that all you wanted from me? To see if I was truly the daughter of Perseus?" She asked._

 _Hestia merely shook her head. "No, my dear. I want to know if you know where he is."_

 _Thalia shook her head, her father had never really told her where he stayed or what he was up to while keeping an eye out for her at all times. "I don't know."_

 _Hestia frowned._

 _"Why do you want to know where he is?" Thalia asked bluntly, wondering if the goddess would tell his location to Zeus._

 _Hestia merely raised her eyebrows. "I would believe the reason to be obvious." She stated. The goddesses eyes staring directly into Thalia's, her eyes looking vulnerable under Thalia's scrutiny. "I have missed my brother dearly, the millenia without him have been painful. My other siblings, the other gods overlook my very existence. While I am content to sit and watch from the sidelines, I care deeply for your father. I have wronged him, and I want to make up for that fact." The bitterness and regret in her voice was overwhelming to Thalia while the goddess had proved her accusations to be true._

 _"You betrayed him as well?" Thalia asked curiously, although she was slightly angry at the goddess before her. "Can you tell me what happened?" She asked._

 _Hestia turned away from Thalia's questioning gaze. "Your father has not told you?" Thalia shook her head. The goddess sighed deeply. "Very well." She sighed. "Millennia ago, your father began the cycle by saving Zeus from being swallowed by our father." Thalia opened her mouth to speak but Hestia merely raised her hand, silencing her. "Your father was far older than Zeus, far older than even I. He was born before the prophecy stated that Kronos would be overthrown by one of his children. When the prophecy was uttered, Kronos demanded the Titans to cast your father into the deepest pits of Tartarus. But he escaped with prior warning from our mother Rhea. Then, as you know Kronos swallowed his other children. But Perseus, he interfered and saved Zeus from that fate while tricking my father to purge the rest of us." Thalia's nose wrinkled in disgust. Gagging at the mental images while Hestia smirked at her expression. Thalia was also stunned just how different the history of the gods was without Perseus included and just how much had been changed when he was stricken from history._

 _"Perseus, alongside my siblings led a war against the Titans and our father. That was when Zeus' jealousy began. He was envious of our older brother who showed a far greater power than the rest of us. But Zeus quenched his jealousy and Perseus slayed Kronos, and cast him into Tartarus. Perseus became King of Olympus after leading the gods to victory over the Titans and led us into a peaceful era. But Zeus' jealousy only increased after watching our brother take the crown. He schemed and plotted any way to take the throne from Perseus. Eventually Zeus had convinced the other Olympians to usurp Perseus from his throne and challenged him to a duel."_

 _Thalia's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, if her father was so powerful surely Zeus would be unable to defeat him in battle. How did he lose?_

 _"Perseus defeated Zeus, but that was when things went awry. Both Artemis, Apollo and Poseidon interfered with the fight. Leaving Perseus helpless at the hands of the other gods as they allowed Zeus to take the throne. First the Olympians took away his throne and then Zeus and the other gods banished my brother to the depths of Tartarus for eternity. I feared that he had faded and I would never see him again, but it seems that I was wrong. A fact that I am happy about." The smile on Hestia' face grew brighter as the flames grew brighter and hotter before the two._

 _However something in the goddesses story did not quite make sense to Thalia. If the goddess had betrayed Perseus, then when had she? "How did you betray him?"_

 _Hestia' smile instantly vanished from her face and morphed into a sad expression. She pursed her lips. "I voted against his exile, but I did nothing as Zeus and the rest threw him into the pit. I did not help nor save my own brother from rotting in the very same place our own father resided. I was a peaceful goddess, only fighting for my own protection if need be. I did not have the power to stand against my other brothers nor the rest of the Olympians. I feared they would do the same to me. I was correct as Hades tried to fight Perseus' banishment to Tartarus."_

 _"Hades was once an Olympian?" She asked in wonder, wondering just how much history had been changed to wipe Perseus from the history books._

 _Hestia nodded. "He was not banished to Tartarus but cast from the Olympian council and forced into the Underworld. However I assumed it was going to happen either way." She mused._

 _She was surprised at how much emotion this goddess before her displayed, she seemed regretful, sad and wistful with anything concerning her father. "Do you know how he escaped the pit?" Hestia questioned her curiously. "Or anything about his future plans?"_

 _Thalia seemed genuinely confused to the goddess. It seemed her brother had a child to overthrow Olympus and Zeus, but that seemed so unlike her brother. But he had been rotting in Tartarus for millennia. Hestia did blame him as he had been alone for thousands of years in the worst place in the entirety of the immortal world._

 _"What plans?" Thalia asked the goddess._

 _"I expect Perseus to wage war on Olympus and more specifically Zeus."_

 _Thalia's eyes widened. He had never once spoke of getting his revenge on Zeus or the other Olympians for everything he had put her through. Was that truly his goal? And how did Hestia come to that conclusion?_

 _"I fear he has sided with the rising Titans." Hestia said with a whisper. The fear on the goddesses face stunning Thalia, she was a goddess. She wasn't supposed to be afraid._

 _"I don't think so." Hestia' gaze snapped to Thalia. "When he has spoken of Kronos and the other Titans to me, he hates them with a passion." She began to speak but the goddess waved her hand and cut her off._

 _"Our time is drawing to a close," The goddess stated quickly. "I can offer you some help, I will speak to Chiron at Camp Half-Blood and have him send help to guide you there. I believe however that your friends need you." The goddess flicked her wrist and the dream shattered._

"Thalia." A girlish voice screamed. "Wake up!" Her eyes snapped open to reveal Annabeth shaking her trying to wake her.

"What is it?" Thalia hissed in a whisper.

"Luke said there were monsters nearby, a lot of them." Annabeth informed her.

Thalia jumped up quickly. "Where is he?" She demanded of the little girl who cowered slightly under her angry gaze, Thalia would apologize later.

"Luke went after them." Annabeth told her, her voice filled with awe as Thalia cursed the son of Hermes. What an idiot. She snarled mentally. She turned to the little girl and very well realized she could not just leave her here.

"Come on." Thalia urged as she rushed through the small opening, coming out into the night sky where she felt most at ease. The shadows danced around her as if playing with her, she could sense Luke a hundred meters away. Along with... She paled instantly. Dozens and dozens of monsters that Luke was currently fending off. What the hell was he thinking? She roared as her mace canister elongated into her trusty bronze spear and her shield spiraled into view.

She sprinted off into the distance, Annabeth on her heels with her bronze knife out in front of her.

The two came into a clearing, where Luke was retreating after slashing down a monster. Crimson red liquid dripped down his left arm, he seemed hobbled slightly and his face was dripping blood as well.

Thalia scowled and charged, driving her spear through the abdomen of a monster coming up behind Luke. The son of Hermes seemed slightly surprised but gave her a nod of appreciation as the three were quickly surrounded by monsters on every side. All looking at the three hungrily.

"Shit." Thalia exclaimed as the three fended them away as best as they could, Luke and Thalia both watching Annabeth as close as possible to ensure her safety.

Luke grunted as he was slashed across the chest, a knife slashed Thalia's right arm and drooped slightly. More and more monsters continued to attack the trio as they continued to slow and weaken, their movements becoming sluggish and weak as blood dripped down to the forest floor. It seemed that the three of them were close to meeting there end.

Thalia closed her eyes tightly. _'Please.'_ She prayed directly to her father. Hestia said he was always nearby, so why wasn't he coming to help? _'Help us, father.'_ She cried mentally.

A moment passed and the monsters continued to stare at them hungrily before arrows sprouted from the necks of the closest monsters. All of which burst into golden dust. In merely seconds dozens of silver arrows laid in piles of golden dust and there wasn't even a monster in sight.

"Who's there?" She heard Luke call out to the darkness as Thalia stretched out her senses.

A little over a dozen young girls were in the woods, each armed with bows and hunting knives. With them, a powerful aura flared and Thalia could sense that a god or goddess was approaching the trio. Luke readied his blade, as did little Annabeth. Whom was sporting a small cut on her right cheek but otherwise unharmed. Luke on the other hand looked ready to collapse from his wounds and Thalia wasn't faring much better. The girls slowly approached the edge of the clearing and made their way into the view of the three demigods. Each held their bows ready to fire in a moments notice.

Thalia made notice of the young girl with the powerful aura. She looked to be only twelve, but looks were very misleading she had realized after meeting her father. She had bright auburn red hair and silvery-yellow eyes that were locked onto her. They held a mysterious gaze and glowed with power.

It was clear who this girl was to Thalia. One of the many Olympian gods who had betrayed her father. Artemis goddess of the moon and the hunt.

"Silence boy." The goddesses voice was neutral but there was a warning in her tone, as well as a hint of power that made all three demigods weak at the knees. Luke did not seem to realize this was a goddess as Thalia had.

"Who do you think..." Thalia slammed her elbow into his side, effectively silencing him with a grunt. Artemis' eyes turned to Luke and they flared at his tone, before becoming softer and more understanding.

One of the young girls sneered coldly at Luke. "Listen to your partner, she is far smarter than you boy." She sneered and Annabeth growled at the girl. Thalia frowned at the girls tone as well.

"Who are you?" Thalia asked, and she noticed the looks of venom and hate immediately vanished as they turned to her.

The goddess stepped forward and regarded Thalia carefully, staring into her unusual black eyes. "I am Artemis goddess of the hunt," She stated slowly and Luke's face paled, his eyes widening in panic. "These are my hunters, immortal handmaidens who serve me forever." She stated, gesturing to the huntresses.

"I wish to speak with the two of you," Artemis gestured to both Thalia and Annabeth. Both of which stepped forward towards the goddess. Luke made to step forward but was met with a hand to the chest by Thalia. Knowing that the goddess did not want Luke to follow.

"Zoe," The goddess turned to a girl with dark obsidian colored eyes that matched her raven colored hair. Her copper tan skin glowed silver in the moonlight and a shining silver tiara rested in her raven locks. Her bow was out and aimed towards the son of Hermes like he would attack any minute. "Give the boy some ambrosia and nectar."

Zoe frowned but did not say a word, a scowl morphing onto her face as she bowed to the goddess.

"Follow me." The goddess waved a hand to Thalia and Annabeth, both of which followed the goddess to a tent that had been set up in mere seconds.

A blazing fire sat directly in the middle of the spacious tent, pelts of rare animals lined the walls and the floor as the goddess sat down in front of the fire. Thalia was reminded of her conversation with the goddess of the hearth. She was in danger before this goddess, she had betrayed her father for whatever reason. Should she find out she is his child, then that could be her undoing.

The goddess waved her hand and gestured for both Annabeth and Thalia to take a seat. Thalia noticed that Annabeth was staring at the goddess in amazement and wonder, while Thalia was trying her best to look at the goddess indifferently. They sat in silence for a moment before the girl with the tiara entered the tent.

She bowed to the goddess and took a seat at her side, her onyx black eyes staring at both Thalia and Annabeth. Analyzing and assessing the two demigods. "We may begin." Artemis started. "This is my lieutenant, Zoe Nightshade." The girl nodded her head respectively.

"What are your names?"

"Ann..Annabeth." She stuttered nervously as a friendly smile cross the face of both Artemis and Zoe.

"A daughter of Athena?" Artemis asked the little girl who gave a brief nod. "I can see it in your eyes young child. And you..." Both Artemis and Zoe turned to Thalia. Her silver eyes narrowed slightly as she looked into the star filled eyes of Thalia. A look of mock anger crossed Thalia's face.

"I do not know." She told the goddess.

Artemis merely raised an eyebrow. "Mortal parent?"

"Female." She answered and a scowl crossed both Artemis' and Zoe' faces.

"Typical gods." Zoe spat, although she seemed unable to look Thalia in the eyes. Thalia had the urge to defend her father but quenched that emotion bubbling inside her, it would not do well to draw suspicion upon herself nor her father.

Artemis hummed at Zoe's words. "How long have you two been out here on the run?" The goddess asked the two, curiosity in her bright silver eyes that made Thalia nervous.

"Three years." Thalia stated neutrally, while an impressed look crossed over both Zoe and Artemis' face.

"You have a powerful aura that I have never seen before, it is impressive that you have lasted so long. Especially without any prior training." The goddess seemed genuinely surprised and somewhat pleased by Thalia's words, but what she wasn't going to tell the goddess was that her father had guided her and protected her. "And you, Annabeth?" The goddess asked, looking kindly at the young girl.

"A few weeks." She stated meekly. "Those two found me and protected me last night." Her grey eyes flickered to Thalia before back to the goddess.

"If I may my lady?" Thalia asked the goddess, who gave a brief nod in signal for her to continue. "Why did you want to speak with us?" She gestured to herself and Annabeth as a smile crossed over the goddesses face.

"I help all young maidens in their time of need." She informed Thalia. "Both of you would make fine hunters and I wanted to offer you a place inside my hunt." The goddess told both of them, Thalia seemed genuinely surprised, as did Annabeth. Although she was staring at the goddess worriedly.

"What would we get in return?" Thalia asked.

"Immortality." Zoe told the two and both of their eyes widened in surprise.

"For what price?"

"Nothing major, you swear off men for the rest of your life and live as an eternal maiden." Artemis told the two. Thalia seemed to consider the idea, but Annabeth' eyes narrowed. The gears turning in her intelligent young head.

"What would happen to Luke?" Annabeth asked, Zoe scowled and Artemis frowned.

"He would be sent on his way to camp." Artemis told the two.

"We can't just abandon him." Annabeth seemed indignant as she looked to Thalia for her support, but her eyes were glazed over as if pondering the idea of becoming a hunter.

Zoe's dark onyx eyes flashed at her words. "He is a male, he will betray both of you the first chance he gets."

Annabeth' eyes flashed and she growled. "Thalia," She slapped her arm. "You can't seriously be considering this?" She asked Thalia worriedly.

The daughter of Perseus seemed torn. While she didn't want to leave Luke, what the goddess offered was to hard to pass up. She would always be protected with a goddess nearby, but also. She would have a family. But maybe she already had her own family, her eyes flickered to Annabeth'. Whose face was red and staring at her, pleading for her to agree with her.

"Can you give me a moment to think?" She asked the goddess and her lieutenant, both of whom nodded as both her and Annabeth exited the tent. Annabeth turned to her in anger.

"How can you consider abandoning me? Abandoning Luke?" She growled at Thalia, her eyes burning with tears. "You promised me we would be a family." She snapped.

Thalia frowned, sad that she was hurting the young daughter of Athena. "Annabeth, just give me some time to think."

"Fine." Annabeth huffed and walked away. Thalia closed her eyes.

 _'Father.'_ She prayed silently, hoping for him to give her some advice.

 _'Yes, my dear?'_ His voice responded almost immediately, smooth and calm, filled with affection and kindness as was his usual tone when speaking to his daughter. She was slightly afraid he was going to make her mad, after all. Perseus had been betrayed by the goddess she was considering to join. If she did join, would he never speak to her again? All of a sudden she was even more nervous than before.

 _'I need your advice.'_

 _'I take it you ran into Artemis' hunt.'_ Thalia recoiled slightly in surprise, his voice had not changed as she expected it to. He wasn't angry or mad.

 _'How did you know?'_ Thalia asked surprised. She heard him sigh in response.

 _'I am a god remember?'_ He asked her cheekily and Thalia mentally face palmed.

 _'Very well,'_ She growled. _'Can you tell me what you think about me joining the hunt?'_

Perseus went silent for a moment and Thalia was concerned that he was about to blow, but after a moments hesitation his voice reappeared in her mind. _'If you want to join the hunt, why are you asking me?'_ He asked her, genuinely confused.

 _'I want to know how you feel about it.'_ Thalia told him.

 _'If it will make you happy, then I'm all for it.'_

She flushed, her heart warming. He only cared about her happiness. Her father was the first person to make her feel like someone actually loved her other than her little brother.

 _'However, I can sense your doubt.'_ He told her in an afterthought. _'So I will tell you this. You will doubt many decisions you make, it is a part of life. Did I make the right decision? I constantly ask myself that question all the time and I'm immortal. So follow your heart, it will lead you where you want to be."_

 _'Thank you father.'_ Thalia made her decision after his wise words.

 _'You're welcome, my dear.'_

Thalia smiled brightly and walked back into the tent where both Zoe and Artemis resided, her smile drooping.

Artemis' eyes snapped to her face as if she sensed her entrance. "Have you decided?" The goddess asked and Thalia nodded.

"Thank you for your offer, Lady Artemis. But I am afraid I cannot accept." Both Artemis and Zoe seemed surprised by her choice. The goddess of the hunt merely sighed a few seconds later.

"Not many refuse my offer, yet two in mere minutes did." She seemed displeased, while her lieutenant seemed angry at her rejection.

"You are foolish." Thalia's eyes snapped to Zoe's whom were blazing with anger and displeasure.

"Excuse me?" Thalia asked.

"Your choice is stupid, I can understand the young one, she has not yet learned of the atrocities of men yet. But that boy," She spat, pointing outside of the entrance of the tent. "Will only betray you, all men are the same." She snarled.

"Zoe, enough." Artemis cut her off. "Thalia, while I must say I am displeased at your decision. I respect it." Her silver eyes flashed to Zoe, telling her to be silent. The lieutenant merely nodded in acceptance and bowed her head. "My offer stands should you ever want to join the hunt. I shall talk to Chiron at camp and see if he can send help to guide you there safely. It is the least I can do."

"Thank you, my lady." Thalia gave a brief bow and swept out of the tent.

"If I did not know better," Artemis began and turned to Zoe. "I would believe that she is the child of my uncle."

Zoe's onyx black eyes flashed in warning as she looked at the goddess. "My lady." There was a dangerous edge to her voice that the goddess noticed. Artemis however ignored it and continued.

"He faded, or didn't escape the pit. Surely we would have sensed him had he escaped." Artemis pondered. The goddess turned to Zoe, whose eyes were glowing with anger, barely unrestrained fury directed at the goddess. "Have you not forgiven me Zoe?" She asked.

"No." Zoe said immediately.

Artemis seemed saddened by her words, but not overly surprised. "It happened millenia ago." Artemis said. "Have I not proved my loyalty to you?" She asked. "To Phoebe or Diana?"

Her lieutenant remained silent for a moment. "He is gone. It is over with. She may have seemed like it to you, but that was not his child. He either faded or is still rotting in Tartarus because of you." The venom in her tone was surprising to the goddess. Had she been harboring her feelings this entire time inside her hunt? Artemis wondered, if so she could hardly blame her, but she could not deny that the words stung. It was partly her fault, but not entirely.

"Her aura feels familiar, I noticed you could barely look her in the eyes."

Zoe glared at the goddess, one of the few who could openly show her displeasure with the moon goddess without immediately being vaporized on the spot. "I am sorry my lady, but I am tired. I need some rest." She told the goddess. Her silver eyes narrowed but she nodded anyway. Ending their discussion.

Artemis sighed deeply as she watched one her eldest huntresses leave. Clearly she still harbored a grudge for what happened thousands of years ago, as did her other elder huntresses.

* * *

A goat. Thalia nearly snarled in rage at the foolishness of camp, of the goddess Artemis. They sent a goat to lead them to camp and protect them from the monsters that were attracted to Thalia's rather powerful scent. While the Satyr, or whatever the thing was, was friendly enough. He clearly would not be the best in battle. After all, the only weapon he had on him was a small bronze dagger much like Annabeth' along with reed pipes that were strung around his neck.

Somehow Thalia doubted those would be useful in a battle. Grover, as the goat had introduced himself, found them about a week away from camp. He was nervous and jittery, but Thalia knew that was because he could sense her power, as well as the many amount of monsters that were chasing after them. They had yet to catch up to them, but they surely would sooner or later. Thalia doubted her luck would hold that the four of them would be able to make it safely to the camp without any problems.

She was right of course.

Grover turned left and the three weary and tired demigods followed. Each of them covered in dirt and grime, Luke's face was stained with blood and golden dust caked his hair. But otherwise they were fine, well alive at least. And that was everything to a demigod.

What irritated her the most was her father had gone silent ever since the Satyr had found them, for whatever reason.

She was hungry, tired and frustrated and that made for a really cranky Thalia that only Luke had experienced. Something the son of Hermes admitted he never wanted to witness again. "Where are we going?" She growled at Grover, who whimpered slightly at her stern glare. "How far is this camp of yours?" She snapped. Grover's lower lip trembled as he felt the air around him turn colder and darker. Who was her father? He wondered, this aura was far more powerful than any other demigod he had ever witnessed and it frightened him.

"About half a day, we're almost there." He turned away and Luke shot Thalia a warning glance that portrayed his thoughts perfectly.

'It's not his fault.' Luke told her through his eyes.

Thalia huffed, but nodded in agreement with his unspoken words.

Both Grover and Annabeth took a step forward through a door and it slammed shut. "Annabeth." Thalia yelled as she tried to break through the door but it remained immobile. Thalia heard a scream of terror that sounded similar to the young daughter of Athena come from her right. Another doorway that was open, without a second thought the daughter of Perseus dashed through the door, her mace canister elongating into her bronze spear.

"Thalia wait!" Luke called and raced after her, but she ignored him and dashed through the doorway, which closed immediately leaving both Thalia and Luke separated.

Thalia barely heard Luke's cries as she ran into the doorway, not registering it slamming behind her and rushed towards the increasing screams of help.

Abruptly, the screams stopped and Thalia raced forward unaware. Before she could react, a large hand slammed into her chest and knocked the wind out of her. Her vision began to fade as she watched a monstrous man with one eye leer at her and bend over her. "Look who I've found." A voice that sounded like Annabeth came from her lips as she was lost to the darkness.

Annabeth trembled in fear, she was alone in the dark. A voice haunting her from a distance, sounding eerily like her fathers. Trying to get her to come out, to get captured as well. She assumed that both Luke and Thalia had been captured just as Grover had been. The satyr had sacrificed himself for her, not only so she could get away and hide from the monster, but her life as well. He was far braver than she had given him credit for.

The monster speaking in her fathers voice stopped and a different voice popped in her head as she trembled in fear.

 _'Go child, your friends need you.'_ A voice brimming with power sounded, the voice was distinctly male and at his words Annabeth felt a surge of confidence. _'You can do this child.'_ The voice was kind and caring, while also adamant that she was able to succeed in saving her friends from the monster.

She stepped out of the shadows confidence brimming and walked through the doorway in front of her. She came upon a large room, hanging above a simmering and large pot were her three friends. Grover was hanging limply after taking the blow of the cyclops for her and Luke's eyes were dazed. Thalia on the other hand was glowing with anger, but she was restrained and unable to move, but her eyes glared at the monster with a promise of death.

"Hello little one." A voice said near her friends. The voice of her father startled and made her tremble but she continued on nevertheless. "We've been waiting for you to start." He bellowed out with a laugh. His tone mocking.

Annabeth knew she needed to press this advantage. He underestimated her as well as believed she would not fight back. While he was distracted by mocking her, she sprinted forward and drove her bronze dagger right into the cyclops foot. Not enough to kill the monster but deep enough for him to howl in pain and collapse to the ground.

Knowing she couldn't face the cyclops alone, she rushed upwards and climbed up and cut her friends free. Luke slowly lowered Grover to the ground and Thalia retrieved her spear. She rushed the cyclops and drove her spear through its chest before it could defend itself. It crumbled to golden dust as Grover regained his bearings.

"Hurry. We need to leave. the monsters behind us are getting closer." Grover mumbled as he stood under his own weight.

Annabeth bit her tongue to hold back the scathing comment that it was his fault in the first place.

The four left and continued their journey towards camp. All the while Annabeth wondered who had spoken in her head and why had her mother not helped her in her moment of need. It hurt and made her angry that her mother seemingly did not care for her at all.

"Grover. We should stop. You need to rest." Luke said, his eyes worried.

The satyr shook his head. "We can't. Monsters are too close, we can make it." He said confidently

Yet, half of a day later the four were struggling to make it up towards the camp. They could hear the monsters growling and their footsteps and barks approaching. It sounded like an army was approaching the four. Thalia heard the cackles of monsters and urged them forward. They were gaining and coming closer.

Thalia looked at the entrance to the camp and then back at the approaching monsters. They weren't going to be able to make it. Her eyes widened as she stared down at the assembling monsters. There were hundreds of them, hell hounds and cyclops approaching. Beside her Annabeth trembled in fear, she must have come to the same conclusion as she had.

"Grover!" Thalia exclaimed, bringing the satyr's attention to her, whom had been staring at the encroaching army. "Take Annabeth and Luke. I'll hold them off." She stated confidently, her bronze spear came out of nowhere and her shield spiraled into view, forcing her companions to turn away.

"No." All three of them yelled. "We stay and fight together." They said in unison to Thalia's ire. Annabeth and Luke both stared at her in sadness, fear alight in their eyes but she wanted them to go. They did not deserve to die and it was her fault they were chasing after the four of them in the first place. Her aura attracted monsters like moths to flame. Even Grover, who she had only known for a week at most was her friend now. He had taken the cyclops beating instead of Annabeth and that had earned her trust and friendship.

"Go, now." She barked.

But her companions were steadfast and the monsters quickly surrounded them, cutting off any route of their escape. Thalia was briefly wondering just how these monsters were so coordinated when the rest she had come across were just plain stupid. "No!." Thalia screamed, she did not want her friends to die. "You should've gone when you had the chance." She roared, ready to defend herself. But the monsters weren't attacking.

The bat wings in front of her signaled the arrival of the furies, each of which were carrying whips and staring at the demigods. Thalia in particular. One of them cackled in a crazed laughter that reminded her of a Hyena. "Lord Hades demands you be brought to him child." She cackled. "But he did say to kill you if you did not comply." The three laughed.

"Why?" Thalia asked, trying to stall for time. The monsters around them becoming impatient and were all waiting to tear the demigods before them to shreds.

"Lord Hades sensed your power, he believes you are a child of either Poseidon or Zeus."

"But I'm not." She stated angrily at the idiocy of the lord of death.

"Do you truly think we believe that?" The furies cackled in unison. Their whips readying to launch.

The whip came towards Thalia but froze a meter away from her face. The shadows tightened and it was wrenched from the furies hand. "Who dares to interfere?" The fury roared.

Thalia was stunned when her father materialized from the shadows.

"Me." Her father stated calmly, Annabeth gasped at her side. Her eyes widening in surprise as she stared at Perseus. Which caused Thalia's eyes to narrow in both confusion and suspicion. The fury balked at the man's voice, her eyes widening in fear and concern.

"No." The fury stated slowly. "It cannot be." She stated slowly, her beady black eyes scanning the god as if unable to tell if the image before them was real. The look on her face was one of absolute fear, terror that Thalia had never before seen on a monsters face as she stared into her fathers eyes. "Lord Hades..." She was cut off as with impossible speed the man was before her, his hand gripping tightly around her throat and lifting her into the air as the monster gasped for breath, it's wings behind her fluttering as she tried to escape the mans grasp.

The monsters around the group were continuing to grow restless, but all of them were eyeing the newcomer with apprehension and fear that drew confusion from the Satyr and the son of Hermes.

Who was this being?

With a sickening crunch the man squeezed his hand tightly and the fury in his hands neck snapped. It slowly dissolved into golden dust, a hellhound lunged at the group of demigods while the beings back faced them. None of the demigods were able to brace themselves as the claws of the beast came within inches of Luke's face.

The hellhound whined and wailed as it floated in midair, restrained in the darkness. The darkness surrounded the beast and it vanished from sight. The man had not even turned to face them, his eyes glaring at the furies.

The speed of the man was so quick, he was barely a blur in the eyes of the demigods and satyr. A black sword appeared in his hands and cleaved one of the flying monsters into two, watching as it crumpled to dust. The last fury in fear turned to quickly fly away and retreat but Perseus lunged forward and drove his blade straight through the monsters chest.

Perseus turned around and looked at the group of monsters surrounding his daughter and her companions. He casually raised an eyebrow and flicked his wrist, the shadows became impossible to see through and nothing could be seen for a few moments.

When the darkness cleared, all but Thalia's jaw dropped. Where the monsters were previously was a field of golden dust, nothing else. Somehow, the being before them had just casually and easily dispatched the monsters without so much as breaking a sweat.

Perseus took a step towards the group, but the son of Hermes raised his blade. "Stop." He said weakly, his upper lip trembling and his blue eyes alight with absolute fear.

He raised an eyebrow, the words shining in his eyes. 'Are you serious?'

Again he flicked his wrist and the son of Hermes yelped as the blade was slapped roughly from his hands. "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead, son of Hermes." Perseus stated coldly at the shivering demigod, who was looking severely displeased at the way he was addressed.

"You're the man who speaks in my head sometimes, aren't you?" Annabeth jumped in, before covering her mouth. She had seen the power of the being, and right now he didn't seem like he was in a particularly good mood. The daughter of Athena just hoped he hadn't offended him.

Perseus turned to him and gave her a bright smile. "You're rather intelligent for your age." He observed, while Annabeth beamed at the compliment of the powerful being before her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"To save you all of course." He suddenly ducked as an arrow flew over his head. He turned and his eyes narrowed as he observed the centaur who was already knocking another arrow and aiming it towards him. Perseus merely sighed and flicked his wrist, the centaur obviously could not observe just who he was from the distance he was. After all, he held a sword in his hands as he stared at the group of demigods.

With a yelp the centaur was banished from view.

"Who are you?" Thalia asked while Perseus merely sent her a bright and affectionate smile. Only Annabeth seemed to catch on to its meaning, however she kept her mouth closed. Both Grover and Luke stared curiously and confused, wondering what the Hades was happening.

"No one of importance." He said before vanishing into the night.


	6. Reunion

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Reunion**

Standing before the entrance to the underworld, an enraged god pulsed with black energy. He entered the building and instantly the spirits inside vanished from view, as if obliterated from existence at the power of the angry being. Said god walked to the counter, where a man stood behind the counter. His midnight black eyes staring at the new coming deity with curiosity.

The god stopped before the counter and peered deeply into Charon the ferryman's eyes. His own were currently pulsing with rage and fury.

"Can I help you?" Charon asked, his tone empty.

The god merely raised an eyebrow. "Take me over the Styx." He snarled, the ferryman actually flinched. Surprised and more than a little nervous at the anger of this powerful deity. He couldn't even tell who it was. Darkness obscured his face from Charon's view.

He scoffed at the bold request. "I cannot..." His words were silenced as the deity reached forward over the counter and gripped the front of his suit, pulling him over and staring into his eyes. The shadows around his face dissolved and the ferryman stared deeply into the eyes and face of the eldest Olympian.

"By gods..." Charon gasped.

Perseus merely scowled, his eyes promising death upon the ferryman if he did not give him the right to cross over the Styx. "Lord Perseus." Charon stated respectfully, hoping the enraged god would release him. However, the god did not comply with his wishes.

"Charon." He growled. "You dirty mutt." He snapped before throwing the god backwards into the wall.

Charon groaned and looked up as the former king made his way behind the counter and knelt. Coming eye to eye with him. "You are going to let me across the Styx, or so help me I will toss you into Tartarus, where you will reside forever." Perseus snarled with such an intense rage and anger on his face that Charon whimpered under his glare.

"My lord, please. You know I cannot..." Charon begged.

Perseus snorted and gripped the front of his robes and hauled him harshly to his feet. Before slamming him face down on the top of his desk. Golden drachmas went flying all over the ground, as Perseus leaned down and whispered into the son of Nyx' ears. "Do you wish to test me?" He snarled.

Charon again whimpered in fear and fright. "No." He stuttered.

"Then let me through." He roared.

Charon just nodded weakly and Perseus released him. "Follow me." Perseus followed him and stepped onto the boat. The two traveled across the Styx in silence before coming to the end. "We are here, my lor..." He was cut off as Perseus merely grabbed him by the throat and lifted him effortlessly into the air.

"I can see that." He sneered. "Now, you will keep the fact that I have escaped Tartarus quiet. Or I will go on my promise and toss you into the pit. Understood?" Charon nodded his head, whimpering under the strong iron tight grip of the god. "Swear it, Charon."

"I swear to the Styx on your terms." Perseus tossed him into the back of the boat like a rag-doll.

"Remember your promise, Charon. I will always remember mine." He stated before walking towards the place palace of his brother. He stopped abruptly as the view of the three headed monster Cerberus came into view. The hellhound was staring at the eldest god in both fear and nervousness. As if it knew that this being had slaughtered many of its kin just an hour prior.

Perseus smirked coldly at the dog. "You going to stop me from continuing?" He asked, which the hellhound merely backed away with a whine. Perseus chuckled. "Sad thing is you have more of a spine than Charon." Before he walked straight past and continued on. A few minutes later he found himself in his nieces garden. Persephone. The goddess of springtime sure knew how to keep a garden.

Perseus stopped in front of the pitch black gates of the palace of Hades. Skeletons on either side stared at him, weapons of all kinds pointed at him. Guns, swords, bows and knives. The eldest god merely smiled humorlessly and flicked his wrist. Blasting the undead beings into nothingness. He turned and raised his hands towards the gates that were not opening. This time an amused smile crossed his face and he raised his hand. A black light glowing from his palm.

With an explosion, the doors exploded right off the hinges an crumbled into rumble. Dissolving and deteriorating before his eyes. He briefly heard a distinct female voice. "What the-" Once the rubble cleared, he stepped through and came face to face with dozens of skeleton guards. Each baring guns, ready to fire at a moments notice.

Perseus' eyes merely turned to the two figures lounging on thrones of bones behind the guards. A man, with pale white skin, dark black hair and onyx colored eyes looked at him with trepidation and hints of fear. However, when his eyes scanned the intruders face, his jaw dropped in shock and he turned even paler than before. The helm of darkness clutched tightly in his hands clattered to the floor. The female, who had deep blue eyes and long brown hair that framed her flawless face had more of a tanned complexion. She stared at the eldest god in a stunned and quiet surprise.

He merely smirked at their reactions and again flicked his wrist. Smiling cruelly as the dozens of skeletons exploded into dust.

He dusted himself off and stepped through the rubble, walking slowly towards the two gods. Both of which stared at him in both trepidation and fear. "Hello." His voice cackled out in a slightly psychotic manner. A visible shudder of terror running down the spines of the gods before him only made him smile wider. " _Dear,_ little brother." His voice was suddenly cold, as his emotions were seemingly shifting rapidly.

Both Hades and Persephone seemingly wondering what had happened to the god before them. "Perse..." Hades tried to start but was cut off by an unexpected yell of rage, a shock wave of pure black energy exploded outwards from Perseus' chest and slammed into Hades. Forcibly ejecting him from his throne and onto the throne room floor. He groaned and stood, noticing his wife had not felt the same blast of power.

It seemed to suck his energy, he was suddenly tired and weary. Very much not in condition to fight, his black staff appeared in his hands and he eyed his elder brother warily. But his expression had shifted back to a neutral cold look, his eyes merely staring at him.

"Brother, please." He pleaded.

Perseus froze for a brief second. His eyes observing, as he tilted his head to the side in question. "What?" He snapped.

Hades barely repressed a shudder at his tone, it was much darker. Much more powerful than he remembered and he was wondering just why his brother was so pissed. Especially as it seemed he had escaped Tartarus recently. "Why are you angry? Why are you attacking me?" He asked bluntly, somewhat nervous of the reaction he would get from Perseus.

The gods head snapped to the opposite side of his head, a loud cracking sound filled the room and Persephone cringed. In a blur of motion, Perseus was before Hades and slammed the staff out of the way, before raising his blade to the god of the underworlds throat. Said gods eyes went wide and he gulped slowly as the cold shadows were pressed against his neck. How could anyone possibly be that fast? Hades wondered. Even Hermes wasn't that fast.

Persephone rose from her throne to help, but Perseus' eyes merely flickered towards her and he casually flicked his left wrist. The goddess of springtime was thrown across the throne room of the underworld. She landed roughly with a groan. "Perseus, stop this." Hades whispered, eyeing the blade held tightly to his throat, before they flickered to his groaning wife. "I defended you, remember?" Hades asked calmly, hoping the powerful being before him was not driven utterly insane in the pit.

Perseus sneered, his dark eyes glowing with power and fury. "I remember." He snarled. He dropped his blade and his free hand reached up and grabbed Hades by the throat, lifting him effortlessly in the air as he had done to Charon. "I am not stupid nor insane." He stated. His grip tightening slightly as Hades gagged under the strength. He was a god, suffocation was impossible. But Perseus could snap his neck and it probably would not feel so good.

"Then... then what..." Hades stuttered out.

"You sent a horde of monsters, the furies, after my daughter." He bellowed. The rage evident on his face.

Hades eyes went wide at his proclamation and he turned even paler in color. He started shivering under the harsh gaze of his eldest brother. Who was radiating power that made his skin itch despite being immortal.

"I... di... didn't..."

"I don't care." He roared, throwing Hades roughly away from him, the god of the underworld landed on his feet and stumbled slightly. His hands up in surrender, but nonetheless he held a cautious and weary gaze towards his brother.

"I thought she was a child of Zeus or Poseidon." He informed Perseus.

"That doesn't make it right." He snarled, his body shaking in rage. "Those children had no choice of being born. It was our brothers fault, do not punish them for the other gods mistakes. You should know better than this." He growled, his eyes staring directly into Hades, whom was crumbling under his gaze. "I will destroy you, without second thought." He paused briefly. "Should you ever endanger my child's life again. You will be no more." He promised darkly. "Swear that you won't."

Hades froze on the spot. Staring at his brother incredulously. "I swear by the Styx to not harm your child or any other demigods without being attacked first." Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Perseus seemed pleased with the oath. "Very well, swear an oath to secrecy. Your wife as well." He flicked his wrist and Persephone floated into the air and back into her throne. Grumbling and groaning all the way. Another flick of the wrist and she stopped abruptly. Before her eyes snapped open and she stared at her uncle nervously.

"I swear by the Styx to not divulge anything I have learned tonight." Both Hades and Persephone swore, although the goddess of springtime did so less than pleased.

"Also, do remember your oaths. Should I find out that you broke them, I will be..." He paused briefly. A cold smirk coming over his face. "Less than pleased." He stated, as if the idea actually pleased him. "A choice between either of your two versus my only daughter is not a choice. Reveal my presence and you endanger her. Then I'll be really mad." He chuckled humorlessly.

Both Hades and Persephone nodded. "Now, my niece. Leave us, me and your husband have some important things to discuss." Persephone turned to Hades, who merely nodded. The goddess vanished from sight in a whirl of flowers.

"How'd you manage to get her?" He asked Hades. "She is far out of your league brother." Perseus began chuckling, Hades just seemed mortified and a little more than concerned that his moods were shifting far too rapidly. When he realized his brother wouldn't respond, he merely raised an eyebrow.

"Very well, straight to busi..." He was cut off by the whirl of flames that appeared next to Hades. A beautiful woman stepped out of the flames. Luscious brown hair that cascaded down her back, flawless creamy white skin and pits of flames for eyes that were locked on Perseus the moment she appeared.

Perseus' eyes widened briefly in surprise and his blade of shadow vanished from view. "Hello, sister." He stated warmly.

The goddess merely continued staring at him, she took a few steps forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Perseus in a warming hug. The eldest god returned the hug with a smile on his face.

After a few moments of a warm embrace, Hestia pulled away and kissed his cheek lightly, A lone tear drifting down her cheek. Perseus chuckled and wiped the tear away with his thumb. "I have missed you too, Hestia." He said brightly. His mood of previous anger vanished from his mind. The goddess smiled widely and brightly. Her eyes of flames seemed to glow brighter and hotter at his words, before her smile dropped slightly.

"I am sorry."

Perseus merely raised an eyebrow. "Uh, for what exactly?"

"I abandoned you." She said sadly, her face downcast in shame. "I failed you, I could have helped. I..."

Perseus cut her off by pulling her back into his embrace. She placed her head in the crook of his neck and basked in the comfort of his hug. "Shhh, shhh, shhh." He cooed softly in her ears. Sending a warm tingle down her spine at the affection of his words. He seemed hardly different than he had before being tossed into Tartarus. She wondered how he was dealing after so long rotting down there alone and betrayed. "I warned you not to intervene." He whispered in her ear. "Zeus would have done the same to you as he had done to me. I wouldn't have been able to bear that."

Hestia smiled at his words, pulling away from his embrace and her eyes widened slightly. Just now becoming aware of the destruction of Hades throne room. "What happened?"

Hades snorted beside her, his eyes still holding a cautious gaze as he studied Perseus warily. Yes, Perseus seemed exactly as he had millenia ago when speaking to Hestia, but he always had a soft spot for the goddess of the hearth. The god of the underworld also had threatened the life of his first and only daughter.

"That was me." Perseus said, snapping Hades out of his reverie.

Hestia merely chuckled and turned to Hades. "Ah." She stated in acceptance. A slight glare towards Hades that made him pale even further than before. In his arrogance and blind hatred for Zeus and Poseidon, he had almost killed three innocent demigods who had done nothing to him, just for the sake of revenge.

"His punishment for trying to kill my daughter." Perseus told her, she knew already though. "I think he can design it better anyways." Perseus said before a thoughtful expression crossed his face. Hades just stared at him incredulously, while Hestia stared at him amused. "Needs more Hades and less Olympus," A solemn expression crossed his face. "I'm actually glad I wrecked your palace little brother." Perseus smirked at him.

Hades merely scowled. "Yes, good to hear. I thought you were going to kill me." He stated, still nervous.

Perseus barked out a laugh. "You're a god remember?" He asked cheekily, while the god he spoke to grumbled. "But, you are also my brother, and friend. Hopefully my ally soon, you didn't betray me and I thank you deeply for that. I just wanted to get the message across that my child is off limits." He looked at Hades with a pointed look, he nodded slowly as if scared for his life should he ever go back on his promise.

"Your child will be the one of the prophecy?" Hades asked curiously. He just like Poseidon and Zeus had most likely forgotten was that Perseus was apart of the eldest gods, meaning the four children of Kronos and Rhea.

Perseus gave him a weird glance, as if unable to accept that. Seemingly struggling with his inner emotions before nodding slightly. "Yes, Thalia will be the one of the prophecy. I am sure of it, unless she joins the hunters or a child of the rest of you suddenly appears that is older than her. Which I doubt."

"Does she know?" Hestia interjected, curious as to whether her daughter knew of the prophecy and most likely her soon to be tough future.

Perseus nodded. "She knows of the prophecy, she knows nearly everything about me. She understands and accepts that she will be the one the prophecy is referring to."

"She is okay with that?" Hestia asked warily, she did not want her brother to become saddened or upset.

A frown crossed Perseus' face. "Yes, she accepts it and accepts my reasoning. She doesn't believe I am using her as my tool. She has ways out, namely the hunters of Artemis. But she chose to remain mortal and accepted the prophecy. However, she does not know of my true motives."

"Which are?" Hades finally decided to butt in on the conversation.

"I plan on taking Olympus for myself and destroying those who stand in my way. Zeus and the others have let this world go to waste and destruction, it is time for change. I must do this for my duty of the world." Hades seemed pleased at his words, while Hestia seemed lost in thought.

"I ask for both of you too join me at my side, to retake the world from out arrogant and foolish brother. To restore it to its former glory. What do you both say?"

Hades immediately had a glint in his eye, a smile crossed his face briefly before dropping. "I will join you brother, Persephone will join you as well. She despises her father."

"As you know Perseus," His beautiful eyes turned to face her. "I will not fight unless to defend myself. However, I will be your ears and eyes on the Olympian council. You are my family, my closest family and I will side with you over any others."

A large smile enveloped on his face as he began to think of his new allies, the return of his family into his life was perhaps the greatest thing he had experienced in his thousands of years of immortality. Hades and Hestia were the first, then he would sway and persuade the many 'minor' gods and goddesses to his side. Which would be more than enough against both the Titans and the Olympians, as well as the fact he had a Primordial goddess up his sleeve.

"Thank you brother," He paused and turned to Hestia. "Thank you sister." He wrapped Hestia in his embrace once more before vanishing into shadows.

Hestia turned and gave Hades a glance that clearly said she was worried about her brother.

"He'll be alright, Hestia." Hades told her. "He's been through far worse before."

"That's what worries me. He seems far to similar for someone who went through Tartarus." She mused. "I can't help but feel something is amiss and that I'm going to lose my older brother again." She whispered sadly.

Hestia just hoped that Perseus knew what he was doing.


	7. Uneasy Olympians

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 7**

 **Uneasy Olympians**

Artemis stumbled into the throne room of Olympus, golden blood dripping onto the ground. Tears filled her vision and she collapsed in the center, the other eleven Olympians staring at her wounds in shock. Wounds covered the goddess head to toe, she looked like she had taken a bath in her own ichor. The dull silver eyes of Artemis could barely make out her father bellowing in rage.

"Apollo, heal her." The King of Olympus roared, his face filled with utter rage. She turned to see her younger brother lean down with worry in his eyes. He placed a hand on her and a golden aura passed over the goddess, her wounds knitting themselves back together and the golden ichor flowing vanishing from sight. Artemis felt the color return to her and her vision sharpened. The goddess sighed in contentment before her cries began to flow more freely.

She was a coward, she had ran and now her hunters surely have all perished. It was all her fault and she had led them all straight to slaughter. "Sister." She barely heard over her own mulling of thoughts. Her gaze turned to a pale and sweaty Apollo. Who was looking at her, concern etched deeply in his darkening blue eyes. Before she could speak, Zeus growled angrily.

"Artemis return to your throne." Her father demanded coldly, his master bolt in hand. Crackling with power and energy. The stern look on his face told Artemis now was not the time to anger him further and in a bright silver flash she returned to her throne as her brother did as well. "What has happened?" He demanded. The lord of the skies did not seem to care that Artemis had been wounded, but worried at what could cause such harm to an Olympian goddess. "Who did this?"

Artemis started with a deep breath. Her eyes welling with tears at the thoughts once again, she steeled her resolve and turned to face her father, whose blue eyes were glowing in anger.

"He has returned." Her words were ominous and sent a shiver down the spines of all of the Olympians. All knew who she was speaking of, but it could not be possible. Could it? He had been gone for millenia, believed to have faded. They all knew yet none wanted to believe her words. Yet despite their best, the eleven Olympians other than Artemis all paled in fear.

"Who?" Zeus demanded, fearing the answer, his master bolt crackling at the lord of the skies uneasiness.

"Perseus." She stated simply, her face going white in both guilt and fear.

Zeus bellowed in rage and slammed his master bolt to the ground. Shaking the throne room to its foundations. "You lie." He snarled before rising from his throne and aiming his weapon at the goddess of the moon. "He has faded." He snarled.

"Father." Athena rose from her throne as Zeus' enraged blue eyes turned to her. Her hands raised in a gesture of surrender. "Perhaps we should let Artemis tell her story." The other Olympian gods all nodded their head as the goddess of wisdom continued. Her grey eyes stormier than usual. "We should not ignore a threat that could have defeated an Olympian."

Zeus growled, his master bolt vanishing from his grip. "Very well." He snapped. "Carry on, daughter."

Artemis took in a deep breath. "It all started in Maine, when you ordered us to capture the two children of Hades."

 _Snow fell to the ground in vast amounts, lightening the dark night. The black sky twinkling with stars and the silver light of the moon. The dark forest surrounded a clearing ominously, the snow so thick the school in the background was only an outline. Three demigods and a Satyr were battling for their lives in the clearing. Nearing the edge and towards the churning ocean below. Led by the manticore, these demigods were struggling to defeat the monsters and protect the two young demigods they hid behind them._

 _"Surrender." The voice of the manticore growled. "We will take you to the Titans, where you can live and help us overthrow the tyranny of the gods." He offered as he blocked a strike from Thalia with his tail._

 _Luke seemed hesitant after the offer, clearly interested. While Thalia seemed indifferent, her loyalty residing with her father and not the Olympians. Nobody knew this of course. Young Annabeth, however was the only one who spoke. "Never." She growled in defiance._

 _The manticore sighed, as if their refusal saddened him. He turned to the monsters. "Kill them, spare the two children of the underworld." He turned back to the group and launched a volley of spikes at the demigods. Luke deflected a couple off his sword, but he wasn't fast enough. One pierced his leg and he fell to a knee. His sword raised ahead of him, parrying off the encroaching monsters._

 _Thalia raised her shield and the spikes connected in a shower of sparks and spiraled to the ground useless. Annabeth in her small and lithe form jumped out of the way. Her small bronze knife not much against the vast army of monsters._

 _Luke rose and shifted his weight onto his left. Battling multiple dracaena, worried the manticore would strike them when they were not able to defend themselves. But the glint he noticed in the eyes of the monster told him that it was content to watch him waste away his energy on smaller monsters._

 _Annabeth wielded her dagger expertly, slashing and bringing monsters to dust easily. But the vast amount of monsters caused her to struggle._

 _Thalia's face gave away nothing as she battled monster after monster._

 _The satyr Grover played his reed pipes, flowing strength and energy into each of the three demigods in front of him._

 _The two demigod children of Hades behind them were cowering in fear as the group was slowly pushed back towards the cliff, with each monster slain it seemed like a dozen would take its place. The snow only making it harder to see but the vast amount of outlines told them this was an army. One that had sensed both the powerful aura of the children of Hades, but also the daughter of Perseus._

 _Just when it seemed like the demigods were about to be defeated. A hunting horn sounded in the distance. A low rumbling sounded deep in both the manticore' and Thalia's throat. A scowl working itself onto her beautiful features._

 _A volley of silver arrows flew from the darkness of the forest, each glowing under the light of the moon. Each hitting their marks as dozens upon dozens of monsters dissolved into dust within seconds. The manticore roared as more monsters took the place of the perished ones. But their attention was diverted away from the demigods on the cliff._

 _"NO!." The manticore roared, launching a volley of spikes into the forest. Immediately his attack was brought with an even larger volley of arrows, slicing the thorns in half. Their shots perfect as more monsters dissolved into dust. Thalia growled as she noticed the silver clad girls watching from a distance._

 _"Direct interference is forbidden. You are breaking the ancient laws." The monster snarled into the dark, the much smaller group of monsters ceasing movement at his words. Now realizing who was standing before them. Looks of fear crossing their faces as they knew the goddess of the hunt and her handmaidens were merciless._

 _A girl stepped out of the forest. Her auburn hair bright under the moon, her eyes glowing silver with power seen even in the distance of the blizzard. A dangerous and smug smirk graced her face. Despite looking around the age of twelve, Thalia knew this goddess was powerful. She could feel her aura and it made her want to fall to her knees immediately._

 _"Not so." She said, her voice oozing with power. "The hunting of wild animals is within my sphere, and you are a wild animal."_

 _"Permission to kill my lady?" A voice questioned from the goddesses left. Without even seeing the face of who spoke, Thalia's blood boiled with rage and anger._

 _"Permission granted Zoe." The goddess said._

 _The hunters raised their bows to launch a volley of silver arrows but the manticore was quicker. Without words he launched at the group of demigods, its claws coming forward to slash them to bits. However, before he could reach the nearest demigod it stopped in midair, small visible shadows restraining the monster in the air._

 _The night air became so thick, so venomous the hunters and Artemis all began to cough violently along with the monsters. The air becoming hard to breath and filling with power. The goddess of the hunt and her handmaidens collapsed to their knees, wheezing and spluttering before it ceased. Air filling their lungs normally and each greedily suck oxygen into their lungs._

 _Artemis' silver eyes widened as she noticed the manitcore restrained in the darkness. Her face overcoming with an expression of worry before her jaw dropped as a man stepped out of the shadows. His form hard to discern from such a distance, even with her enhanced vision. It seemed he was made of darkness, completely shrouded in the shadows. Several thoughts ran through the goddesses head. Hades? Erebus? Nyx? Each making her more nervous and scared than the last._

 _But the one that cropped up the most and made her the most worried and scared was Perseus. The former King of the gods. The one she betrayed. She knew very few deities that had control over the darkness. It narrowed this figure down to just a few deities and the aura of power that radiated from the being. Even from here was palpable. While also seeming familiar, and she knew that she may have just killed all of her hunters. If he had returned, surely he would desire revenge._

 _Or perhaps it was just Hades coming to protect his children. Gods, she hoped that was true. But the feeling in her gut was telling her she was just trying to fool herself._

 _A pitch black blade appeared in the figures hands and without a word, he sliced through the neck of the manticore like butter. It dissolved into golden dust. The figure turned to the remaining monsters that had not fallen at the hands of the hunters. Each stared at the newcomer with wide eyes, fear making them shake in their places. Before each simultaneously turned and made to flee. They all made it barely a step before each were restrained by shadows._

 _Artemis heard a few gasps to her right. Her elder huntresses seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her._

 _The figure of darkness stepped to each monster and sliced the head from each one. A large pile of golden dust left in his wake as the sword vanished from his grip. The deity turned to face the group of demigods and Artemis knew that despite her instincts screaming not to make mention of both hers and her huntresses attention that she needed to. If Perseus had truly returned, she needed to make sure of it. Then war would surely be on the horizon. For it seemed that far more beings than just the Titans were rising._

 _She rose from her knees, signalling her her huntresses to ready their bows. "Halt!" She exclaimed, her voice demanding and brimming with power. The deity ignored her and continued on towards the demigods. A silver arrow flew from one of her huntresses bows and she should have warned them not to fire unless she said so. If they angered who she suspected, then there was a possibility they would all perish. The deity didn't even turn towards the arrow as it faded from view into the shadows._

 _However, he did stop in his tracks. Pausing as he stared towards the demigods. He ignored the goddesses words. "Stop." Artemis snapped again, flowing with enough power to make the demigods near the deity shiver. What she noticed peculiarly was that none held their weapons at the ready. As if they knew that he wasn't there to harm them, but rather protect them. Did they know of Perseus? Had he escaped from Tartarus earlier than she believed?  
_

 _Instead of replying he took another step towards the demigods and another silver arrow flew towards him. This time from Artemis' own bow. Time seemed to slow as the man turned and caught the arrow calmly between his fingers and he heard gasps of surprise from some of huntresses as he stopped the goddess of archery's' arrow._

 _"Fire one more arrow, little goddess," The man began his threat in a cold tone and she shivered involuntarily. The voice confirmed her suspicions as it was nearly exactly the same as she remembered. Except it was far more colder and harsher. Filled with raw fury and power that made her weak in the knees. "And I shall make you regret it." There was no bluff in his threat, that much Artemis could tell. She knew Perseus could defeat her. The shifting of bows_

 _"Stop." She shrieked, this time to her younger huntresses who did not yet realize the danger that they were all in right now. One wrong move and they would all be dead. She heard growls from her huntresses at the mans blatant disrespect but they nevertheless listened to her words._

 _"Perseus..." Artemis began and she heard a deep low growl warning her to be silent. The shadows that surrounded he deity vanished from view and the blizzard of the night lightened considerably. His face finally able to be seen and despite already assuming who it was, Artemis paused and recoiled at the sight of his handsome face. One which held an angry and hateful scowl directed towards her. His black orbs that matched the night sky above them glowed with power and rage._

 _"Silence your tongue, goddess." His voice so full of venom that Artemis recoiled slightly._

 _"How dare you?" One of her more angry and less patient hunters growled. "Insolent male," She sneered. "I'll put you down like the dog you are."_

 _Perseus turned to the huntress who held her bow at the ready and aimed at him. "Is that a challenge?" He asked. Artemis turned as white as the snow._

 _"I forbid you from speaking, Naomi." She growled out quickly, her voice tinged with fear. Something her huntresses noted, she was a goddess, their patron she was not suppose to be afraid of anything._

 _Naomi's jaw snapped shut with an audible click, the rage present on her face._

 _Perseus chuckled, although there was no humor in it._

 _"Ah, yes. Artemis, mighty goddess of the hunt. Perhaps you should warn you hunters about challenging a god."_

 _"You're a god?" One of her hunters asked, her tone nervous for whatever could make Artemis act the way she was currently, was truly something to fear._

 _Perseus smirked coldly. "Yes, I am." He assured her._

 _"Why are you here?" Artemis asked shaking nervously, was he here for revenge, the demigods or something else?_

 _"To save my brothers children of course. You don't think I would let my dear youngest brother harm them would you?" He asked the goddess of the hunt who paled at her words. Did he know of the great prophecy? Did Hades know he had returned and send him to fetch his children? There were so many questions that she needed to know and her father would surely demand from her._

 _"Brother?" One of the hunters croaked, piecing the clues together._

 _"What?" Perseus' eyes widened in surprise. "You've never heard of me?" He gasped in mock surprise as he placed his hands on his chest. "The eldest child of Kronos and Rhea." He sighed, shaking his head. "What do they teach you imbeciles these days?" He asked aloud._

 _The hunters just stared at him with wide eyes, unable to discern whether or not he was telling the truth. Their goddess had not denied the fact, so it seemed true._

 _"You lie." One of Artemis' hunters finally hissed. Raising her bow once again, quicker than Artemis was able to stop. A silver arrow flew through the night, and towards the eldest god._

 _A victorious smirk crossed Perseus' face and he caught the arrow again, this time snapping it in between in his fingers. "You poor, stupid ignorant girl. Trust me, you are far out of your league." He said with a cruel smile, his eyes glinting with excitement. "I guess I can show you just how outmatched you truly are."_

 _The wicked looking black sword reappeared in his hands, and Artemis knew that her hunt and she would be in for the fight of her lives. Her foolish huntress would most likely pay with her life._

 _A volley of silver arrows launched themselves towards Perseus, with Artemis noticing her elder three huntresses were not moving nor making any attempts to fight the former King of Olympus. Each just staring at him with shock and sadness._

 _Artemis herself launched a volley of arrows, but Perseus was far to powerful. Time seemed to slow once more and Artemis knew it was possible. He was the god of time after all. His sword deflected half a dozen arrows, while his left hand crushed just as many to dust without so much as a scream of pain. Once more she was in awe of the speed in which Perseus showed. His time in Tartarus only seeming to hone his skills even more not degrade them._

 _She briefly noticed that the demigods vanished into shadows. She had failed her mission. Father would not be pleased._

 _As the volley ceased, Perseus vanished from view. Reappearing in front of the huntress that had first launched the arrow. The blessing of Artemis was the only reason she was quick enough to bring out her hunting knives and jump away from being cleaved in two. But quicker than possible, her weapons were slapped out of her hands and buried into the snow._

 _The huntress stared at him, her eyes wide in fear and Artemis knew she had to intervene. She flashed in front of her huntress just as Perseus brought his blade down and caught his strike. But the power behind the blow caused her to stumble backwards._

 _"Run." She yelled to her huntress. But they ignored her words instead choosing to launch another volley of arrows at him. They were easily swallowed into shadows._

 _Artemis jumped backwards from another strike one that was only a blur in the night as she heard groans and yells of pain. She chanced a look and saw that each of her huntresses, except her eldest three were all laying on the forest floor. Arrows sprouted from their legs and arms. Their own silver arrows._

 _The clash of immortals was truly terrifying for all the spectators. A god, enraged and glowing with power, battling a goddess of the hunt who seemed to be on her heels. Seemingly outmatched by the powerful being. Artemis barely parried a strike away from her face, not expecting the fist that slammed into her nose with an audible crunch. She groaned as golden ichor poured from her nostrils and her vision darkening momentarily._

 _She stumbled backwards and a strike slashed across her stomach. She screamed as another strike slashed long up her right arm. One of her hunting knives spiraled out of view and her left hand nearly severed from her body. Artemis screamed in pain as in a blur of motion, three, four more gashes were opened onto her arms and legs. Her remaining hunting knife knocked from her hands.  
_

 _Perseus raised his blade to finish off the goddess of the hunt. But stopped as Artemis began to speak, tears were crawling down her face and her teeth were stained with golden liquid._

 _"Perseus, please." She pleaded, trying to placate the enraged god. "I'm sor..."_

 _The god released a bellow of rage. "Shut the fuck up bitch." He sneered. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say. Send Tartarus my hospitality, I miss it dearly." He prepared himself to strike the goddess of the hunt down, but in a bright flash of silver she vanished.  
_

Artemis turned towards her father who had turned deathly pale. She observed the rest of the Olympians and noticed they had all lost their color as well. Fear and uneasiness plastered onto each of their faces. Perseus had been relentless and nearly killed a goddess who he had liked in the past. What would he do to the rest of them? Were they all going to meet the same fate?

Then all of a sudden, angry roars of rage exploded between all of the gods. Zeus raising his master bolt at Poseidon while the god of the seas leveled his trident towards the lord of the skies. The Olympians all knew that their future was going to be bleak and weary. Suddenly Zeus rose from his throne and slammed his master bolt into the ground. Silencing the room as all of the Olympians looked at the king of Olympus.

"Silence." He bellowed. "Do you think he was preparing for war against Olympus?" Zeus asked Artemis slowly, gluping in fear of the answer.

Artemis swallowed thickly before nodding. "Yes, father. He took both children of Hades. I believe he knows of the prophecy and is going to convince them into helping his cause. He had no other reason to be there in Maine tonight."

"Was there anyone else?"

"No, he seemed to be alone. But he is just as powerful, if not more so than I can remember." Zeus' blue eyes widened at his daughters words, expecting Tartarus to have weakened the god instead of strengthening.

"Athena, what can we do?" Zeus asked with a scowl towards the goddess of wisdom. Said goddess seemed very displeased at his words and distressed about Perseus' return. She racked her brain of what to do.

"We must secure as many immortal alliances as we can. Summon the minor gods and goddesses, should Perseus join forces with the Titan threat we may be facing a war that would be impossible to win." She reasoned while her father scowled at her words. Not liking that he would need the help of beings beneath him.

"Hermes, Apollo." Zeus barked. "Go, bring as many minor gods and goddesses as you can."

Both gods vanished in golden lights.

None of the gods noticed the figure of shadow in the corner of the throne room, a cruel smirk plastered onto his face.


	8. Where You Stand

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Where You Stand**

Perseus brought his blade down just as the silver glow blasted outwards, the immense light blasting him backwards off of his feet. He tumbled and landed about twenty feet back on his feet. He slowly rose, his form menacing to the huntresses that had watched their goddess, their patron abandon them to this enraged god. He took a step forward and once more dozens of bows were raised at him. Excluding three. Perseus merely shook his head.

"You'd think they would learn by now." He muttered and disappeared again into the darkness. Appearing two inches away from the huntress Artemis had initially saved. The huntress, tumbled backwards and fell into the snow. A look of panic crossing her face, this time understanding just how dangerous the being before them was. How could Artemis just leave them to die?

"Sisters," A stern voice growled. "Lower your bows." None listened, all waiting for the god to move. Their sister was at his mercy and they would not let this man, god or not harm one of their sisters. "Now." The voice barked. At hearing the anger behind the words, the silver bows vanished and a smirk crossed the gods face momentarily before vanishing. "Perseus?" The voice held a questioning tone to it, asking him what he was about to do.

His smirk returned as he turned to look at the one huntress who dared to speak in his presence. His eyes laying upon the familiar red hair and blue eyes staring at him. The girl had her hands raised in a placating gesture, hoping to deter the eldest Olympian from slaying one of her sisters.

To their complete and utter shock. The god started chuckling and his black blade disappeared from his grasp. "Phoebe!" He exclaimed excitedly. A wistful smile on his face, despite the huntresses not caring for men could not deny he was the most handsome being they had ever laid their eyes upon.

The huntresses of Artemis stared at the being, wondering if he was completely insane. After all, just a moment prior he had been about to kill them. Noticing their looks of apprehension, Perseus waved at them. "Relax, I won't kill any of you with Phoebe, Zoe or Diana watching." He stated factually, nodding his head in the direction of a girl with a silver tiara in her head, copper skin and volcanic black eyes that matched her dark black hair. The other had bright blonde hair with light blue eyes that were currently staring at him in sadness.

The huntresses of Artemis turned to the eldest three, demanding an explanation for how this god knew them. But they would not meet their eyes. "It's good to see you three, after all it has been thousands of years since my banishment." He chuckled humorlessly.

"It is good to see you as well, Percy." Diana said, her tone saddened.

The smile on Perseus' face stretched widely, his unnatural orbs shining. "You remember my nickname." He said, mock childishly. The daughter of Apollo rolled her eyes at his antics.

"How can you stand there and bicker with the man who nearly killed our mistress." The huntress Naomi snarled at the elder three huntresses. Her face red with rage as the other hunters nodded their heads in agreement to her question.

All three of them opened their mouths to speak, but Perseus spoke much quicker. "You know, it is only because of them that I am not vaporizing you right now, bitch." He growled, his face returning to the same wild and menacing look that had been on his face when fighting the goddess of the hunt. The color of the rest of the hunt turned sheet white at his tone. "Maybe be a little grateful and know your place. Just because I like these three does not mean I won't destroy you when they leave." He snarled as the rest of the hunt backed away in fear.

He flicked his wrist and sent the hunters flying backwards about ten feet. "This is a private conversation." He snapped. "Set up your camp and get out of my sight, do not try to listen or try to be near here. I am the god of night after all." He warned them. The hunters all rushed away from the former king of Olympus.

"Perseus." The colder voice of Zoe snapped as the elder god turned his attention to the daughter of Atlas. He raised his eyebrow in question. "What are you doing here?" She asked curiously, she could not speak for her two sisters but she was a little more than nervous. They had not spoken to the god in thousands of years, and while he seemed the same when speaking with them. He was far colder, darker and more angrier than normal.

"You mean in Maine?" He asked, at Zoe's nod he continued. "To save the children of Hades, my brother ordered your hunt to capture. As well as those three demigods and the satyr I guess." He seemed thoughtful for a moment.

Diana scoffed. "Don't take us for idiots Percy, what is the other reason?" She demanded, although she was slightly nervous he would get angry.

Perseus laughed at her tone. "Still the same Diana I see." His chuckling slowing to a stop as his expression grew solemn and more serious. "I am preparing for war." He paused to judge the girls faces briefly, slightly surprised to find them unsurprised at his declaration. "I was expecting a more stupefied reaction from you three." He stated.

The three girls scoffed in unison, making Perseus raise his eyebrow in question. "These gods all cast you in Tartarus for no reason. Honestly I would be more surprised if you weren't aiming for a war upon Olympus." Zoe said, although their was a question upon her lips she seemed scared to ask. But she steeled her nerves. "You aren't siding with the Titans are you?" She asked and the two other girls gave him expectant looks, hoping his answer would be no.

"Of course not." He said with a brief smile. "I believe I have more than enough allies that I do not need to side with the Titans or Olympians. Trust me, in a few hours, the Olympians will realize just badly how they miscalculated with their treatment of the minor gods and goddesses."

He paused and he briefly analyzed the three of them. "I just have one question. All those years ago, when I saved each of you from peril and brought you to Artemis and her hunt, you swore to me and Artemis your loyalty. I am afraid you will have to side with either me or Artemis or the oath upon the Styx will claim your souls." He told them. He never asked the question, but it was there for the girls to answer from the message. He was asking them to side with him over Artemis and the hunt.

All three of them answered much more quickly than he expected them to. "You." They said in unison once more. Perseus eyes widened briefly in surprise, before taking a few steps forward and wrapping the three of them in a hug. The three girls flushed at the moment of touching the god, although he did not notice.

"My friends." He said with a bright smile upon his face, before he snapped his fingers. Nothing around them changed, the three huntresses looked at the god questioningly. He smirked smugly. "The remaining hunters will believe that I vanished after Artemis fled. They will not remember that we had a conversation." He snapped his fingers again and the demigods and Satyr, minus the children of Hades appeared behind the god in the shadows. "As for these, tell your mistress they reappeared after I left. She will most likely believe that I only wanted the children of Hades."

The girls smiled appreciatively at him. "Thank you Percy." Diana said, a bright happy smile on her face as she eyed the god. Glad that he seemed to act as he did thousands of years ago. Although she knew he was different. Phoebe and Zoe both wished him farewell.

"I am needed on Olympus, this should be fun." He smirked at the trio before vanishing into the shadows.

For the first time in thousands of years, Perseus took his first steps on Olympus. He sighed wearily as his eyes took in the surrounding sights and palaces. They were astounding and beautiful, gardens of lush green and buildings made of gold and silver. Had his Olympus not been much better he would be in awe. Instead all he felt was rage and anger at how much Zeus and the other Olympians had changed. They would surely pay for their sins committed against him.

Quickly he stepped into a shadow and reappeared inside of the throne room of Olympus. Hiding in the shadows he watched as Artemis regaled her tale to the rest. When they finished, all he could do was smirk at the fear that was so visible on their faces. He was enjoying their suffering, for none of them would survive the upcoming war against him.

In his usual self, Zeus was being a paranoid and idiot. He sighed, wondering how his brother was even related with him when the words of Athena made his smile come back full forced and cruel.

"We must secure as many immortal alliances as we can. Summon the minor gods and goddesses, should Perseus join forces with the Titan threat we may be facing a war that would be impossible to win."

So now, when they needed them. The gods would come crawling back hoping for their loyalty. He had to restrain himself from barking out in mad laughter that would draw the eye of Olympians. Barely managing to do so, he chuckled quietly in his head.

"Foolish gods." He muttered lowly as Hermes and Apollo both vanished from their thrones quickly.

He waited, and waited. The smirk on his face never fading as Zeus looked like he was going to implode. His knuckles gripped his master bolt tightly, his skin paler than their brother Hades. He observed the rest of the gods, Aphrodite seemed to hardly care. Same with her husband Hephaestus. Ares was gleeful. Presumably at the upcoming war. 'Dumb ass god.' Perseus thought. The dumb wine god Dionysus was lounging in his throne, pale in color and sweating nervously. How was a wine god even nearly considered powerful enough to be an Olympian. What? The idiocy of Zeus just made him scratch his head.

Hera sat in her throne, her eyes distant as she stared straight ahead. She was biting her lip nervously. Demeter was doing the same. His other brother Poseidon was wringing his hands nervously, his sea green eyes darkened as he stared at the flames of the hearth where Hestia resided. His trident sat in the arm to his right. His forehead glistened with nervous sweat and his normally tan skin was ashen white from fear. He felt joy at their fearful reactions of him. They should be afraid.

But the two reactions of Artemis and Athena were ones that made his blood boil and his vision tinge red. Both had tears present deep in their eyes, almost spilling out into full fledged sobs. Their eyes were hollow and filled with pain, while the looks on their faces showed they were heartbroken and fearful of what was to come.

'They should not be sad. They betrayed him.' He growled. 'They have no right, for anything.'

Flashes of light snapped him out of his angry musing.

Both Hermes and Apollo appeared in front of their thrones, both with looks of apprehension on their faces as they sat down in their thrones.

"What is it?" Zeus barked, his eyes flaring as they laid upon his sons.

"They are coming, father." Apollo stated nervously as Hermes bit his upper lip anxiously. Perseus chuckled silently at their reactions, obviously the minor deities did not seem particular interested in being questioned by Zeus and the Olympians.

"But they don't seem very happy with us." Hermes interjected.

"What do you mean?" Hera asked, while glaring at another one of her husbands infidelities. Before either Apollo or Hermes could answer, bright flashes of light filled the entire throne room. So many the Olympians had to look away from the sheer magnitude.

The light faded and Zeus rose from his throne, master bolt in hand. The King of the skies stared at the dozens of immortals that had just appeared before him in the throne room. Many of which were glaring at him hatefully and angrily. Even some of his own children such as Hebe. He had never seen such an intense look of rage upon her daughters face.

"Why do you summon us?" The goddess of revenge and balance growled. The look of rage in Nemesis' black eyes unnerved most of the council. "I have no time to deal with your idiocy, Zeus." Many of the immortals behind her nodded in agreement.

Zeus' face turned a sickly shade of red in anger. "You dare..." He began as his master bolt startled to crackle in energy. He was cut off however, by a slightly angered snow goddess.

"We don't answer to you, Zeus." Khione growled. "We answer to another, one far more powerful than the likes of you."

"I am King of Olympus." Zeus roared. "All immortals bow to me." He said enraged, his blue eyes glaring down at the group of minor gods and goddesses. "You all serve Olympus, if I didn't need you in this upcoming war then I would cast you into Tartarus myself." He sneered.

The gods and goddesses merely laughed at his words, which brought a look of astonishment on the faces of the Olympians.

"None of us serve Olympus." Khione said with a cruel smile on her face and a strange evil glint in her brown eyes. "We serve our one true King. He has risen and is ready to retake his throne, _Lord Zeus._ " The goddess of snow cackled.

"You all dare to betray Olympus?" He was gripping his master bolt so tightly his knuckles were pale white.

All of the minor gods and goddesses merely nodded. Each with a smirk on their faces. "You can't hope to win this war Zeus." Nemesis sneered. "All of you will get what you deserve. Lord Perseus has returned and none of you shall be spared."

Zeus growled angrily at her words while the rest of the Olympians paled in fear. "We do not need you foolish gods and goddesses, I shall have you all cast in Tartarus for your infidelity against Olympus." Drawing more laughs from the immortal beings. He scowled and launched his bolt directly at the center, hoping to send all of them to Tartarus.

Before the bolt reached them, the darkness in the room thickened until no one could see.

A loud explosion filled the air and when the darkness cleared, all of the immortals were gone.

None needed to say how the gods and goddesses vanished, all knew that Perseus was behind it. With strong numbers of the many immortals the Olympians had angered. All of them were beginning to fear they had already lost the war. They lacked allies the vast numbers that seemed loyal to Perseus greatly outweighed their power.

"We do not need those minor gods and goddesses, we are Olympians." Zeus huffed arrogantly. "We cannot lose this war." He said confidently, although he did not believe his own words. Many thoughts ran through their heads and they were not good. Then an idea clicked in his head and he turned to Hermes. "Summon Hades here immediately." He growled.

His son vanished in a flash of light. Minutes later returning with a rather frustrated god of the underworld. His dark onyx eyes turned to his youngest brother and glared at him, a scowl forming on his face. "Yes, _little brother?_ " He asked with a sneer.

Zeus seemed slight taken aback at his tone, anger bubbling in his veins as it took a tremendous amount of strength to not destroy Hades with his bolt, because he knew that they needed as may allies as possible to face the threat of their brother.

"Perseus has returned from Tartarus." He told the god of the underworld, the same who merely smirked in response.

"And?" Hades asked, curious as to how this could possibly involve him.

Zeus observed his brother quickly, noting that he had already known Perseus had returned as Artemis had predicted. His already near brimming point of anger was about to explode at this point. All of his supposed servants were leaving him for his blasted eldest brother. Those fools, he would cast them all into Tartarus and they would rue the day they crossed the mighty Olympian council.

"You are to fight alongside Olympus against this threat." Zeus ordered, his voice stern and authoritative.

Black onyx eyes just flickered to every member of the council, each looking pale and nervous with fear, he wanted to celebrate. He had never seen the Olympians so terrified and surely they knew what was coming, with the same cruel smirk plastered on his face he asked.

"Why would I do that?"

Zeus closed his eyes and his free hand came up and rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Your king demands you to." He growled in anger. "You serve Olympus."

Hades scoffed. "I believe I was cast from the Olympian council millenia ago alongside our brother," He spat in contempt. "You fools made far too many enemies that day. Now it is time for you to get what you rightfully deserve as the true King of Olympus returns. I side with Perseus over any others, Zeus. You failed to treat those around you with respect and because of this Olympus will fall and I will smile with glee as Perseus casts you into Tartarus as you did to him."

Before any of the Olympians could react to his words he vanished from the throne room. His message clear and precise, the same message that had all the gods even more fearful and nervous than before as another possibly powerful ally was driven to Perseus. Just how many more did the former King of Olympus have?

Silence reigned the throne room for nearly an hour as each god and goddess tried to comprehend just what was to come in the future. Each terrified and scared of the outcome, knowing there were very few that would result them in winning the war against Perseus or the Titans.

"We can't win this war." A pale and nearly shaking Athena said from her throne, drawing the eyes of every Olympian and the ire of Zeus as he growled. "Perseus has far to many allies and now he has Hades alongside him. Our treatment of the minor gods and goddesses has been our downfall."

The lord of the skies growled but could not fault any logic in her words. After all, she was correct.

After mulling over the words of the wisdom goddess, Poseidon rose from his throne, trident in hand as every eyes was drawn to him. His normally tan skin was stark white in fear and his smooth face covered in wrinkles. His normally shining sea green eyes were dark.

"I shall not wait here to die, I am truly sorry but I will go where Perseus cannot touch me. This war you will fight without the aide of the sea."

Zeus rose from his throne. "You would dare to abandon Olympus, brother." He spat, leveling his master bolt at his remaining brother on his side.

Poseidon merely nodded as the rest of the Olympians looked at him in a stunned surprise, he seemed hardly nervous that his youngest brothers master bolt was mere feet from his face. Instead the god of the seas looked weary, tired and scared. "I must think of my family, Zeus. Should the Titans attack my palace as I believe they will, I would rather fall to a Titan than to Perseus. I feel his wrath shall be much worse than that of the Titans."

The Olympians could not believe that their dwindling and weak numbers were getting even lower as some seemed to mulling over fleeing. One of their most powerful remaining choosing to not fight for Olympus but rather save his own skin, despite how little possible it seemed he would be able to.

Zeus seemed hesitant to attack Poseidon, knowing the consequences the action might bring. He could completely drive the god of the seas from Olympus' side or try and convince him to return. "Poseidon," He started, his voice calm but he was near a mental breakdown. "We need you, we cannot lose another ally today. Perseus shall destroy you either way, fight alongside us and we may have hope to defeat this threat." He tried to reason.

Poseidon merely closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "No." His voice was colder and more angry. "It matters not if we defeat Perseus, because then the Titans shall be there to destroy us in our weakened state, as well as the other way around. This is a war that we cannot win, we have no hope and no chance. We barely defeated the Titans with Perseus at our side, now he chooses to be our enemy and rightfully so. We banished him from his own family and then cast him into Tartarus. Those many millenia ago I had a helping hand in tossing my eldest sibling into the worst place imaginable. The very same place that our father resided." He paused briefly. His eyes squeezing tightly shut in pain at the memories. When he spoke again his voice was nearly a sob. "As if he was anywhere near as terrible and as evil as Kronos, I made a mistake all those millenia ago. Perseus was the rightful King of Olympus, not you Zeus." The lord of the skies eyes narrowed in anger at his words but the god of the seas ignored him and continued. "If Perseus has returned to retake Olympus from us, then so be it. I can finally be free of the regret and pain that I feel, I deserve what is to come, as do the rest of you. I shall not fight against what I deserve, good luck to the rest of you. You are going to need it." Poseidon finally finished before vanishing in a flash of light.

Three out of four sons of Kronos were now against Olympus. The Olympians could hardly move as they watched another flee, the remaining eleven Olympians all knew that unlike Poseidon, there was no place on heaven and earth that they could stay hidden and safe from Perseus. The only possible escape were the oceans and even then, if Perseus had allied himself with a water spirit, then even the waters were unsafe to traverse.

Zeus bellowed in rage and released his bolt at the empty throne of Poseidon, the gigantic throne of the sea god crumbled into dust as Zeus breathed heavily in rage, all the eyes of the remaining Olympians staring at him. None were speaking, all were too scared to.

Destruction of Olympus was imminent, just as Perseus had promised all those years ago.


	9. No Love For the Gods

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 9**

 **No Love for the Gods**

Olympus had been dead silent since the night of Perseus' return. It was peculiar and different than usual. After all, the demigods of Camp Half-Blood were used to the Olympians ignoring them and not so much as recognizing their existence. But Dionysus had not returned from the council meeting, as well as the hunters of Artemis had mysteriously shown up, without their goddess and each and every one of them looked displeased and irritable, more so than usual when coming to camp.

Those who had gone to help Grover retrieve the two demigod children of Hades, Luke, Annabeth and Thalia had all been silent about what had happened that day in Maine. But the campers knew it must have been trouble. Judging by the uneasiness of even the fearless hunters.

Despite the tension, and despite the silence, the demigods tried to ignore it. Yet the seemingly impending doom was drawing close. Most anticipated and believed something deadly was encroaching. They were right, yet none knew just how dangerous this threat would be.

The campfire was bleak, Chiron seemed to have aged thousands of years in a mere week since the trip to Maine.

This fact alone made camp far more bleak and tense. If Chiron was nervous and scared of what was to come, then something truly terrible was indeed incoming. Coupled with the arrival of the hunters and the camp was almost at the breaking point. Just one event would tip the scales into full out chaos.

Only one person in camp acted like nothing was wrong, Thalia Grace. The strange eyed, unclaimed camper who still resided in the Hermes cabin. Arguably the most skilled fighter in all of camp, still went about her day as if nothing was amiss. Drawing suspicion from the other campers. She seemed calm, and at peace with what was happening.

Did she know something the rest didn't? What had truly happened in Maine? There were many rumors being thrown about. The main one, an old foe of the gods had risen from Tartarus and battled the goddess of the hunt. It was said this deity defeated Artemis and she fled. They also said this being was feared by the gods for its power, and that's why Olympus was silent. The Olympians were scared of this being and feared they could not defeat it.

Panic was deep in camp, but they tried to reassure themselves. Nothing was powerful enough to defeat an Olympian god, they were the strongest beings in the world. They were infallible, that is why they ruled. Was it not?

Yet none could convince themselves that it was true.

It was because of this that many of the campers were becoming angered at the gods. Not only had they already been ignored the entire existence of their lives, just because the gods and goddesses were unable to keep it in their pants, but they were also kept in the dark about the approaching danger. A threat that put fear into the Olympian gods and the one of the few things standing between Olympus and the enemy were the demigods of Camp Half-Blood. Not many were feeling all to willing in fighting for Olympus, much less lay down their lives for them. They were becoming disillusioned with Olympus, and rightfully so.

With that, a young daughter of Athena had been watching her friend for the past week. Analyzing and sorting through information, she was a daughter of the wisdom goddess after all. Thalia seemed to know more than she let on, and how she had been acting the past week, told Annabeth a lot that she needed to know.

Her grey eyes danced warily as she watched one of her two closest friends seemingly becoming against Olympus. It wasn't like Annabeth could exactly blame Thalia, she had been at camp for three years and was still unclaimed and shoved into the Hermes cabin. But a god had been the one who had saved them many times, she was sure of it. Who else would do it?

Luke was drifting towards betraying Olympus as well, but he seemed just as loss as she is. Thalia however, seemed to know quite a bit and was fine with whatever was happening. This slightly irked Annabeth, she wished her friend would tell her and stop keeping secrets.

There was one key to this entire situation with Olympus, the mysterious deity. This being had saved their lives on multiple occasions, offering no clue as to who he was or what he wanted. At first he seemed to be an ally of the gods, but she quickly realized that was wrong. The way he handled an Olympian goddess, practically tossing her around like a rag doll, left Annabeth shaken. Who had the power to defeat an Olympian? What did this being want from them?

But there was one feeling she had in her gut that unnerved her.

The feeling and aura of the deity was similar to Thalia's, while not exactly peaceful or calm. It was comforting and protective, the only difference was the being radiated far more power.

Annabeth approached Thalia, who currently was toying with a son of Ares.

Noticing Annabeth approaching, Thalia easily disarmed the son of Ares and put her spear point to his throat. The son of Ares gulped as she smirked arrogantly, she let her spear disappear from her hands and watched the son of Ares flee gleefully before turning back to the daughter of Athena.

"Hey." Thalia greeted with a warm smile.

Annabeth just looked at her, calculating and analyzing as she usually did. Thalia would never admit it but, this made her nervous.

"Can you come with me?" She asked, a small disarming smile on her face.

Thalia's eyes narrowed slightly but she nodded anyways. Knowing how intelligent Annabeth was she wondered what she could possibly have to ask. She followed her companion to the edge of the forest and stepped in close behind her. Making sure to keep a close eye out for monsters and whatever was out there, she followed until a clearing where Annabeth abruptly stopped. Thalia nearly knocked her over before stopping herself and staring into curious grey eyes.

"What do you want?" Thalia asked, her eyebrows raised slightly in confusion.

"I want the truth, all of it." Annabeth snapped, a small scowl on her face. Thalia's eyes widened slightly but nodded nonetheless. "You know who that deity is. Don't you?"

Thalia's eyes widened before she caught herself, but noticing the smirk on Annabeth's face, she had seen it. "No, I don't..." But Annabeth cut her off.

"Yes you do, your reaction gave you away." Thalia cursed Athena silently for making her children so perceptive and so intelligent. That made it really hard to keep a secret concealed, something Thalia needed to keep hidden otherwise both her and her father would be in immense danger.

"Now, I'm just trying to figure out how you know him exactly." Annabeth looked away and placed a finger on her chin in thought, although she was observing Thalia's reaction with her peripheral vision.

A look of panic crossed Thalia's face before vanishing just as quickly as it had come.

"He's your father, isn't he?" Annabeth asked Thalia, whom cursed Athena again silently for her children being so smart. She growled, angry that this young child could easily peace together that Perseus was indeed her father.

"No." Thalia denied, but she knew her expression had given her away.

Annabeth frowned at her words. "Why are you lying to me?" She had a look of hurt on her face. "Aren't I your friend?" She asked and Thalia nearly groaned in frustration, couldn't one her closest friends realize why this needed to be kept a secret? She could be killed by Zeus or any of the other Olympians that hated her father. When Annabeth went to speak once more, Thalia glared at her and put a hand over her mouth.

"Be quiet and just listen for a moment." Thalia snapped, Annabeth nearly nodded to her words. A look of anger shining in her grey eyes. "Don't you understand why I needed this to be kept a secret?" She whispered dangerously. "I am the daughter of someone who is an enemy to the gods, after what you've seen of the gods, don't you realize they would just kill me for being alive. So sorry for trying to protect my life." She growled as she released her grip on Annabeth's mouth.

"They wouldn't just kill you, would they?" She asked doubtfully. "If you could prove your loyalty to the Olympians, they wouldn't kill you." Annabeth reasoned.

Thalia snorted. She really doubted that even if she wanted to side with the gods that they would allow her to live if they knew of her heritage. But she hated the Olympians for what they did to her father, but also because of how they brainwashed and treated their children. It was really sad that Annabeth still believed that Athena actually cared for her despite not a single reason to believe so.

"I'm not going to prove my loyalty to them." She gritted her teeth. "I hold no love for the Olympians." At her words, Annabeth gasped.

"How could you say that?" She asked hostile, and Thalia wondered how she could be so smart in some situations, then gullible in the next. "They are the protectors of the world."

Thalia scowled at her words. "They care nothing for demigods." She shrieked finally, her face turning red with anger. "You think the goddess of wisdom actually loves you?" Thalia asked. "She doesn't, none of the Olympians care for their children, otherwise they would have helped us instead of keeping us buried in the dark."

"You're siding with your father, aren't you?" Tears began forming in her eyes as she mulled over her friends harsh words. She knew they were accurate and most likely true, but she wanted to believe that her mother actually cared for her.

Thalia gave a brief nod, before reaching forward and wiping the tears away from Annabeth's eyes. She cooed soothingly as she enveloped the young and saddened daughter of Athena in her arms. "I'm sorry." She whispered, regretting her harsh words but they needed to be said. "You're my family and I'll always protect you. Should my father wage war on Olympus, I'll protect you. You and Luke are my closest family and I don't want to lose you."

She heard Annabeth sniffle and pull away from her arms, she wiped away her own tears, a grimace on her face as she realized she had broken down.

"Come on," Thalia gestured for Annabeth to follow her. "The capture the flag game will be starting soon." She whispered.

The hunters of Artemis stood prepared for the game, but each of them seemed visibly frustrated and annoyed, also a little weary. The eldest three huntresses of Zoe, Phoebe and Diana were whispering furiously to one another off to the side.

At Chiron's voice the hunters stopped their talking and readied themselves, Thalia and the campers doing so as well, the centaur raised his lips and flew the horn. Signalling the start of the match, with speed and grace unmatched by even the most talented camper, Zoe and Diana took off and disappeared into the woods.

With sharp and observant eyes, Thalia studied the darkness around her. She could feel several people approaching with her powers over darkness. Yes, it wasn't exactly fair, but she wanted to defeat the hunters. She stood alone, covering the flag, while Luke and Annabeth both led the assault to get their flag.

She could feel stronger and more ancient presences approaching, she felt two arrows fly out of the darkness and she easily dodged them. She prepared herself for another volley of arrows, but none came.

Her enhanced vision could make out the forms of Zoe Nightshade, she cringed slightly in anger, but also a beautiful huntress that she did not know the name of. Instead of aiming their bows towards her as she expected, they pulled their silver hunting knives and slowly stalked towards her.

Instantly she knew that Annabeth's plan was going to fail, how was she supposed to battle two huntresses that held thousands of years of experience in combat? Her odds of defeating the two didn't seem very good. Holding her spear at the ready she was slightly surprised when the volcanic black eyes of Zoe studied her closely instead of attacking, the other's blue eyes observed her just as closely and she shifted uncomfortably under their steady gazes.

"What?" Thalia finally snapped impatiently, a small smirk appeared on Zoe's face before vanishing.

"After we win," Zoe stated casually, knowing the campers weren't skilled enough to defeat them. "We need to speak with you privately." She emphasized. Thalia narrowed her eyes and said nothing, wondering just what was going on. At seeing the stare down and knowing that Thalia didn't exactly hold Zoe in high regards the other cut in.

"Please? It's really important." She asked, her eyes glaring at Zoe while the huntress just rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She growled angrily. As soon as the words left her lips, Thalia was immediately on the defensive. Trying to defend herself against the onslaught of these two hunters, but the speed and grace at which both fought was incredible. Thalia believed herself to be quite talented at fighting with both a spear and a sword, but immediately she realized the skill of these two her far out of her league. She knew to win this fight she would have to use her powers and she did not want to be exposed.

Her shield erupted in sparks as Zoe's hunting knives slammed down onto them, she just barely raised her spear and deflected both of Diana's strikes. She lasted two minutes before the other wrenched the spear from her grip and tossed it aside, the butt of silver hunting knives slammed into her side and she grimaced as she tried to defend herself with only a shield. The two surrounded her, one on her flank the other in front. She knew she had lost, she blocked the strikes from Zoe just as Diana slammed her foot into the back of her knee, her leg buckled and she collapsed on her butt.

Zoe smirked and kicked her shield, knocking her flat on her back before pressing a heavy foot on her chest, keeping Thalia in place. She struggled under the surprising amount of force and watched as Diana casually walk up to the flag and pluck it from the ground before sprinting away towards the creek, Zoe cast her a victorious and smug smirk and took off as well. Thalia cursed her retreating form, she wanted to beat the arrogance out of her.

Thalia took off after the two, but she quickly realized that in terms of speed, she was greatly outmatched as they ran with the grace and speed of a cheetah. She came to a halt beside the creek as Chiron declared the hunters victors, she was breathing slightly heavily and noticed that both huntresses that she had faced didn't seem the least bit tired.

The younger hunters were cheering while the campers groaned, the two huntresses that had talked to Thalia stood off to the side with another, Phoebe, Thalia recognized her. Once more they were whispering furiously to one another, each of their eyes flickering towards her occasionally. She became slightly unnerved as their talking ceased and they all turned and looked at her.

Before she could give biting response to their gazes, Chiron gasped loudly. "No." He whispered, his eyes wide and mouth slightly agape in shock. "She has never left the attic." Thalia followed her gaze and saw something that stunned even her. The oracle of Delphi, a muffified girl who resided in the big house attic stood before Thalia and the three huntresses, the rest of the campers and young huntresses watching with wide eyes.

Green smoke began pouring from her mouth and her words sent a shiver down Thalia's spine with how hoarse and terrifying it sounded.

 _Five Shall Go West to the Goddess in Chains_

 _One Shall Be Lost in the Land Without Rain_

 _The Bane of Olympus Shows the Trail_

 _Campers and Hunters Combined Prevail_

 _The Titan's Curse Must One Withstand_

 _And the Gods Will Fall by Their King's Hand_

The Green mist vanished and the oracle stopped moving, Thalia's eyes were wide at the prophecy. She turned to face Chiron whose face had lost all color, he seemed to age thousands of years in seconds.

The rest of the campers and hunters just seemed stunned and shocked. The words of the prophecy jumbling in their minds. 'Their King?' Did that mean Zeus was going to be the reason the gods fell? Or was there something else? Even then, there seemed to be no hope. It clearly stated the gods would fall.

"This does not bode well." His voice was dark and his eyes got a far look in them. "Meeting in the big house, now." He barked and the campers all looked at him stunned. They had never heard Chiron truly angry or loud.

"He has returned." Zoe Nightshade informed Chiron. Her tone completely serious, the centaur just seemed downcast at her words. While the rest of the campers tried to think of who could have returned.

"No." Chiron whispered. Fear and sadness etched deeply in his eyes. "Go to the big house, we discuss the prophecy further there. The rest of you, off to bed." He said. "NOW." He roared as they all had remained still.


	10. Chapter 10

**Rise of the King**

 **Chapter 10**

The throne room of Olympus was dead quiet. The remaining Olympians were all looking around warily, first Poseidon decides to leave, now Artemis was taken. By the Titans? By Perseus? None of the Olympians knew, but currently, they were not feeling all to well for their own future. Apollo merely stared at her twin siblings empty throne, before his eyes flickered to the rubble that had once been his uncle Poseidon's throne. Only ten Olympians remained and Perseus had countless allies if he truly held the sway of most of the minor gods and goddesses. The Titans however, were just as formidable.

Let's just say recently, things had not been going well for the Olympians. They had tried gathering as many allies as they could, but they were unable to secure any immortal to their side, and the demigods would only be slaughtered by the immortals in the upcoming war. The Olympians could not rely on them as they had in previous wars.

His blue eyes flickered to his father, who sat, tense and pale. His master bolt gripped tightly in his hands like a lifeline, the lord of the skies truly seemed to realize how utterly screwed they were, and it was all because of his ambition and jealousy. Oh, how he regretted the day he ever helped his father become King of Olympus.

"Father." Apollo called out, and was immediately met with an angry glare that flashed with lightning. He briefly looked away at his fathers look of utter rage but steeled himself. "We must do something, Poseidon is gone, Artemis is missing and the rest of us are blaming each other. We must act now."

Zeus rose from his throne, his master bolt appearing in his hands as he stared down his own son. "What?" He sneered, loud blasts of thunder reverberating throughout the throne room. "What can we do except wait for our fates to be destroyed? At the hands of the Titans or Perseus himself?" Zeus sighed, weary and frustrated, his electric blue eyes pulsating, filling with fear and pain. "We cannot do anything, Apollo." Zeus said dejectedly before sliding back into his throne, master bolt disappearing from sight.

Apollo and the rest of the Olympians seemed stunned as they stared at the sight of Zeus, the once proud King of Olympus who would submit to anyone seemed to be gone, and his place a broken and tired man waiting for his inevitable death to come. Had the return of Perseus broken the lord of the skies? No one seemed to think it was possible.

"Maybe we should call Perseus and beg for forgiveness." The goddess of love suggested, her kaleidoscopic eyes surprisingly dull, and no makeup adorning her face was shocking. Zeus and a few of the Olympians snorted at the suggestion. Their was no way that Perseus would ever forgive them for what they had done to him. After the way he treated Artemis, one of the Olympians he actually liked, the rest doubted that Perseus would actually forgive them.

The god of night was not exactly known for his forgiveness, even when he was King of Olympus.

"Perhaps we should try..." Athena started, but Zeus cut her off.

"Absolutely not." He roared in rage, his pride returning slightly. "I will not apologize for claiming my rightful place." Zeus snarled, despite knowing full well this meant his own destruction. "I would rather be cast in Tartarus than ask for his help."

The rest of the Olympians rolled their eyes in exasperation at his words. Despite their inevitable destruction, Zeus would rather let Olympus fall than beg forgiveness from his brother.

"You are a fool, father." Apollo grounded out, his jaw firmly clenched as he gazed at his father in fury. "We are going to fall because of you, and we will do nothing?"

A low rumbling sound appeared deep in Zeus' throat. "This is not just my fault," He bellowed. "All of you helped me, each and every single one of you. All of us are at fault, we shall all face our punishment. Or perhaps the fates shall allow us to remain." Zeus stated optimistically, but it seemed rather doubtful at the moment.

Athena snorted. "Father, I will not allow your ignorance to be our downfall." She growled. "If there is a way for to survive, I am going to try." The rest of the Olympians murmured their agreements. Zeus merely glared at all of those that were opposing him.

"Very well." He snarled, enraged. "How are you going to find him? He doesn't exactly want to be found."

"I shall bring him, little brother." Zeus' electric blue eyes turned upon Hestia, whom was standing in the center of the throne room. An eight year old form that didn't exactly seem the most intimidating.

"How are you going to do that?" Zeus growled, fully expecting another betrayal from one of his siblings. He knew just how close Hestia and Perseus had been at one point.

"I have been keeping in contact with him recently."

"You dare..." Zeus began as thunder blasted the throne room. He was cut off as any visible light in the throne room vanished and they were currently standing in eternal darkness.

A voice emerged from the darkness. One that he had not heard from in millennia, one that sent shivers down his spine at the mere words he spoke.

"Hello, little brother." His voice was calm and dark, with a deadly edge to it that promised pain and suffering. Zeus and the rest of the Olympians all shivered at his words, terrified and frightened now that he was actually here. On Olympus for the first time since his betrayal.

However despite the darkness, Zeus rose from his throne. Master bolt appearing in his hands, eyes darting around the throne room.

"You think that would be wise, Zeus?" Perseus hissed, his voice not staying in one place, but rather reverberating throughout the entire darkness. "I believe that would be foolish to try. After all, you need my help. Do you not?" He asked.

Zeus swallowed the lump in his throat loudly. He truly did need his eldest siblings help. For once, he tried to swallow his pride, but it seemed he was unable too. "No. Us Olympians do not need your help. You are here to be sent to Tartarus once again for your treachery."

Perseus laughed loud and mockingly. "Very well, Zeus. I shall take my leave, soon you shall be cast into Tartarus just as I had." The darkness began to disappear but Athena quickly spoke in a hurried tone.

"Perseus, wait. Please, ignore Zeus." She pleaded. Zeus growled but said nothing in return to her words.

The darkness vanished completely, revealing Perseus. Standing in the center of the throne room, Hestia by his right side, Hades by his left. His eyes were currently trained on Zeus, who was still holding his master bolt in a threatening manner.

Slowly, his gaze turned to the goddess of wisdom. Just one of the many immortals who had wronged him in his life, one that he had cared for greatly. He glared at the goddess of wisdom, who actually flinched under his harsh gaze.

"Why would I do that, goddess of wisdom?" He spat, his tone so venomous that everyone flinched at his words. Athena opened her mouth to speak, but Perseus cut her off quickly. "You would dare to ask me for help? All of you are truly pathetic." He snarled hatefully. "I shall love it, when I cast each and every single one of you in Tartarus for your crimes against me and the world. This isn't just about what you have done to me, but how little you have done for the mortal world. All of you deserve what is coming." His eyes gazed at Athena and Apollo especially.

"Please, Perseus." Apollo pleaded. "We are sorry, we didn't exactly have a choice in your banishment." Apollo revealed.

Perseus merely raised an eyebrow at Apollo's declaration. "Everyone has a choice Apollo," Perseus spat. "I give no fucks about how Zeus forced you to betray me. Honestly I couldn't care less."

Zeus had, had enough of this. "Then I shall strike you down now." Zeus snarled and unleashed his master bolt directly at Perseus, the god of night merely rolled his eyes and flicked his wrist. A shadow appeared before him and swallowed the bolt whole.

"I feel like you've done this before. Whoa, deja vu." Perseus grinned. "You know, I had a plan to cast you into Tartarus Zeus. But I guess I'll just do it now." He smirked. A blade of pitch black darkness appearing in his hands. The rest of the Olympians went to rise, but tendrils of shadows wrapped around them and forced them to stay in their thrones. "Tsk, tsk. None of you will be interfering this time." He stated darkly.

Perseus reached into a shadow and pulled free his brothers master bolt, before tossing back at Zeus. The lord of the skies nearly dropped it in surprise. "Come forward, little brother. If you dare."

Zeus jumped off of his throne and shrunk to the size of Perseus. "I defeated you once, I shall do it again." He stated confidently.

Perseus merely chuckled, turning to Hades. "Keep them restrained. I want this to be one on one, like it should have been all those years ago." He turned his attention back to his youngest brother. Waiting for the lord of the skies to dare approach. "Come forward, King of Olympus." He bellowed in rage. "And meet your fate." The evil glint in the former King of Olympus' eyes unnerved the inhabitants of the throne room, all those except Hades and Hestia. The former, having a look of pure glee on his face. While the latter merely stared impassively. Fully expecting Zeus to get his ass kicked.

Zeus stood before his eldest brother, taking in his defensive stance and the psychotic glint, shining deep within his dark orbs and suddenly all of the arrogance left his body. 'Shit.' The lord of the skies knew that he was mostly done for.

Perseus smirked as Zeus' face began to grow paler and paler. He sat there silently as he watched Zeus' fear turn to anger, he waited.

After about a minute of waiting Zeus lost his patience and launched his master bolt at Perseus. The supercharged lightning bolt crackled with energy as it sailed towards the former King of Olympus with incredible speed, even Perseus was surprised. His youngest brother caught him off guard last time the two fought, that wasn't the only reason he had been defeated, but it was a reason. He really needed to stop underestimating his enemies.

He raised his blade, and instead of dodging, the bolt slammed into his sword and exploded.

When the dust cleared Perseus was standing a few feet back from where he stood previously, but otherwise unharmed. Zeus on the other hand stood before him and retrieved his bolt with a quickness that was unmatched by most. But Perseus was faster, as Zeus brought his symbol of power down at his head like a sword. Perseus raised his own and caught the strike, effectively stopping Zeus in his tracks. A deadly smirk crossed his face and he slammed his knee into Zeus' gut, sending the lord of the skies stumbling backwards.

He flicked his wrist and his blade came down towards Zeus' head.

In response, the lord of the skies jumped backward , dodging the strike and brought his bolt forward.

The weapons of the two sons of Kronos met in a shock wave of power that rippled across the throne room of Olympus, shaking the city of the gods to its foundations. The Olympians shaking dangerously in their thrones, both Hades and Hestia stumbling slightly.

Perseus gave his brother a mildly impressed look as Zeus matched his strength shockingly. "You have improved, little brother." Perseus said neutrally as the two tried to gain the advantage on the other. Neither was able too however. While Perseus was able to speak, Zeus was red faced, sweat dripping from his forehead as he tried desperately to fend of his brothers superior strength. Not that he would ever admit that.

Perseus stepped back suddenly, forcing Zeus to stumble forwards. The lord of the skies recomposed himself quickly and their weapons met in a flurry of strikes that not even the Olympians could keep track of. One thing was for sure however, Zeus was certainly powerful. But Perseus was on a whole new level, while Zeus was straining himself to try and defeat his eldest brother. Perseus seemed to be hardly exerting his own power or speed.

Shock waves of pure power rippled across the throne room every time their weapons met in a clash. With Perseus on the defensive and Zeus straining to try and find the upper hand on the offensive. It was clear that the lord of the skies was tiring, his moves slightly slowing. His fatigue beginning to drain his strength, Perseus on the other hand seemed unaffected by the amount of time that was passing during their battle. His movements not slowly even in the slightest. Fighting for your life for a few millennia really increases your stamina. He mused silently in his head as he ducked under a wile strike from Zeus.

The lord of the skies stepped back, panting slightly while Perseus merely stood there, watching his brothers youngest movements with mere curiosity. "Little brother," Perseus chuckled slightly. "You should just surrender. You do not have the power to defeat me alone, and you know this." He paused briefly, letting Zeus digest his words. "Should you surrender, I will be merciful and shall let you live, possibly." He tilted his head to the side as if mulling over his own thoughts. "Or I will just destroy you and the rest of these pitiful fools quickly. If you don't surrender, you shall be the first god to feel my utter wrath and I will show you the true power I wield."

At his words Perseus' words, his aura flared out dramatically in a blast of pure power that nearly sent Zeus spiraling to the ground. The King of the skies truly nervous and frightened by the power that his very own brother could wield.

Zeus sneered, and readied himself. "I shall never surrender to the likes of you." He growled fiercely.

Perseus smiled, one without warmth, but excitement for the prospect of destroying Zeus slowly. "Very well, little brother. I can say that I am very excited to tear you limb from limb." He laughed.

Zeus knew he could not defeat Perseus in any weapons combat, but perhaps he could possibly defeat Perseus in a show of powers. It was unlikely, but the best chance that he had at defeating his eldest brother and keeping the throne for himself. He pointed his hand down and pushed, the wind around him rapidly gaining speed and he was vaulted thirty feet into the air before Perseus could even react. A monstrous blast of thunder reverberated throughout the entire throne room, shaking the entirety of Olympus as he raised his hand towards the sky, his eyes glowing with an ethereal blue light.

Perseus looked up at his youngest brother and pursed his lips. Unaffected by his brothers show of power while the Olympians themselves were shaking in their thrones by the auras that Zeus and Perseus were flaring out. Zeus raised and threw his master bolt into the air and a monstrous crack filled the air and a huge bright light dropped from the sky and sailed towards Perseus.

The master bolt, in its most powerful form.

Perseus stared upwards as the powerful bolt of lightning fell from the sky towards him with incredible speed, a cruel smirk came over his face and he closed his eyes. Time seemed to pause and everything remained stopped. Zeus frozen with a look of rage on his face, his body glowing with power. The Olympians all frozen in fear of their power. Hades and Hestia merely watching from the sidelines while the lord of the Underworld kept the rest of the Olympians restrained.

He shoved his left heel into the ground, a huge blast erupting as he did so. The very ground shaking. He raised his hands towards the sky and time resumed, as the bolt came closer, the earth rose and wrapped itself around Perseus as the master bolt collided with a thunderous boom, Olympus shook from the blast.

The ground slowly melted away, revealing Perseus completely unharmed, a dangerous smirk playing at his lips. "You failed Zeus." He said with a cold sneer before raising his hands. "You wish to play with powers, I shall show you just how unmatched you truly are." Zeus' electric blue eyes widened dramatically as darkness thickened around him and started to weigh him down. He tried to rise further into the air but time seemed to slow for him and only him. His eyes widened in fear as tendrils of shadows latched out and roughly pulled him from the sky and slammed him downwards, he felt his power over the winds fail him and he fell straight into the marble floor of Olympus. He roared in pain as he struggled to rise to his knees.

Immortal ichor poured from his mouth and nose as he glared up hatefully at Perseus as the eldest Olympian slowly approached him with an amused smile on his face.

"Finally." Perseus stated with a breathless awe in his tone. "You are finally on your knees before me. As it should be." The tone of his voice was dangerous and low, a whisper that was so frightening that Zeus himself shook at his words.

"Do you not realize just how foolish you are Zeus? Do you realize just how outmatched you are? Do you know what is about to happen to you? This is justice, for all the mistakes and wrongs you have committed."

He slowly leaned down until his face was inches from Zeus'. "Do you know what I'm going to do to you." He asked, a curious glint in his eyes.

Zeus didn't answer, instead choosing to glare at the god of night. Perseus tsked at his stubbornness and reached down and grabbed him by the jaw, squeezing painfully so much that Zeus cried out as his jaw creaked under the pressure. "Answer me, bitch." He snarled. "Or I'm going to crush you jaw to dust. Now, do you know what I'm going to do to you?" He asked slowly and dangerously.

Electric blue eyes filled with fear. "I don't know Perseus." A smile overcame Perseus' face at his words and he lightly patted the lord of the skies on the cheek.

"Was that so hard?" He asked rhetorically. "Well as for the answer to the question, you're going to wish Kronos had eaten you when I'm finished with you and the rest of the Olympians." He paused, his eyes flickering to each and every Olympian.

"This I promise, little brother."


End file.
